Transitioning from Innovation to Ingenuity led Prosperity
The Economic Futures Lab is committed to fostering a regenerative economy that addresses the challenges and opportunities facing Canada’s productivity and future vitality, particularly for Gen Z. The Bennett Jones report highlights Canada’s poor performance in multi-factor productivity, a proxy for innovation and investment in intangibles. To address this, we propose a new coherent strategy integrating data services and regenerative economic principles.
Key Strategies and Objectives
1. People-Centric Investment:
Transitioning via a phased derivative of Universal Basic Income (UBI): Evidence shows that providing under served populations with unrestricted cash (e.g., $300 per month) significantly improves their lives. Implementing a short term phased UBI can enhance economic stability and innovation by empowering individuals.
Trust-Based Philanthropy: Shifting from program-centric to people-centric funding, focusing on building trust and long-term relationships with communities.
2. Holistic Policy Framework:
Antimonopoly Actions: Enforcing antitrust laws to disperse economic power, promote fair competition, and enhance community self-determination. Recognizing the racialized impacts of monopolies and addressing them through targeted, activation based policies.
New Comprehensive Economic Tools: Utilizing a range of economic policy tools, including tax reform, financial market restructuring, labor protections, and corporate governance reorientation.
3. Community-Driven Solutions:
Participatory Strategy Development: Engaging community members in the strategic planning process to ensure that policies reflect their needs and priorities. This includes utilizing a Leadership Consortium and conducting community development using data led insights and decision science to depoliticize the actual needs and priorities of all citizens.
4. Data-Driven Decision Making:
Shared Measurement Systems: Utilizing our systems to collect and analyze data on community well-being. This includes real time surveys, public data dashboards, and virtual community engagement via Media Strategies.
Equitable Evaluation: Applying principles from the Equitable Evaluation Initiative to ensure that data collection and analysis are inclusive and reflective of community needs.
5. Civic Engagement and Education:
Voter Education: Increasing reach via our Media strategy and knowledge base to address disparities in voter education to boost engagement through peer-to-peer connections rather than relying on external consultants. This approach has proven effective in increasing voter participation and civic involvement.
Building Community Power: Ensuring that civic infrastructure includes marginalized voices and micro-funding community-driven solutions to foster long-term engagement and empowerment.
6. Corporate Philanthropy Focus:
People Over Business Plans: Encouraging corporate philanthropy to focus on the well-being of individuals rather than rigid business plans based on internal corporate “experience”. Demonstrating capability through quantifiable data and community impact, where the corporate efforts map directly to outcomes via demonstrated successes.
Vital Opportunities for Gen Z
Non- traditional Innovation and Entrepreneurship: By addressing systemic barriers and providing equitable access to resources, we can enable the creator economy they have already embraced among Gen Z.
Building Economic Security: Implementing regenerative economic principles ensures that growth is durable and inclusive, providing long-term opportunities for future generations.
Empowerment Through Education: Investing in critical skills development and civic engagement empowers Gen Z to actively participate in shaping their economic future.
Conclusion
The Economic Futures Lab’s integrated approach to a regenerative economy aligns with the need for a laser-focused strategy on productivity growth in Canada. By centering on people, leveraging comprehensive policy tools, and fostering community-driven solutions, we can address the challenges highlighted in the Bennett Jones report and create a vibrant, equitable future for Gen Z and beyond.
