Welcome! 
To get started   Sign in
New to ideas4all?   Register  It's fast simple and free!
IDEAS4ALL IDEAS4ALL
Twitter sign in image image
image image
I have an idea I share a problem

BACK
Img-default-user2

October 26th 2008

by Liongold
Brain-fu: 440

(3629) A Green Points System

 

 

 

Stats  Viewed 747 good Good Idea 8 comments comments 5
This is more a sort of economic theory that can, if utilised, potentially eradicate poverty as well as help the environment. 

In most cases, people get money when they sell something, but lose money buying something with equal value. But what if we got more money just by buying something?

The scenario works somewhat like this: A goes to a store, where he buys an environmentally-friendly product from B. In return for attempting to keep the environment clean, the government rewards A with  what I call 'green points'. These green points are 'packets' of money. They are not like stocks, which are sold for money; they are, quite literally, currency. The government gets back the capital spent in green points through taxes.

This is fundamentally similar to the the carbon credit system used by most countries, with two major differences: that this is aimed not at industries but at consumers, and two, the value of the green point is not fixed.

Yes, its value varies. A green point may now be equal to 10 dollars; tomorrow it could be equal to 20 dollars. What governs this variation in value? The green point system follows a different concept of demand and supply than is usually obeyed by objects ( this is because you get these when you buy something, as opposed to when you sell) i.e. if demand goes up, the value of the green point goes up, and supply is determined by the government. 

For example, if demand goes up, the value of the green point jumps from 10 to 20. Because this will cost them even more, the government will have the right to limit the amount of greenpoints assigned to an object. e.g. if a hybrid car has 5 green points attached to it, and the value of the green point jumps from 100 to 200, the government can change the number of greenpoints assigned to the car from 5 to 4.
 
What, in this case, is the demand? It is what we may compound demand, or the combined increase in demand of all the objects to which greenpoints are assigned to. If the demand for these objects rises, so does the green points value. The supply is basically the number of greenpoints assigned to an object.

How does this have the potential to solve poverty? It is simple: there may be some products whose cost is significantly less than the total value of the green points received from it. Anybody who buys that object instantly profits from it. This means that the poor can vfery rapidly become rich. 

But what of inflation? Surely the prices of objects will very rapidly rise? This can be curbed if we assign a maximum limit to the green points'value i.e. it can't go above a certain value. Because it is very likely that a lot of demand will fall for that object if the price of the object goes past that limit (after all, we must assume that the increased demand is due to its green point value), the products'price will not go beyond that mark. However, curbing this problem for products not directly related to the green point system - products which aren't environmentally-friendly or unfriendly, for example, chocolate - is a little harder to solve. 

This system has a three-way benefit: the government has citizens at least trying to help the environment, the company has increased demand, and the consumer makes a profit. No one loses. 

How'd you like it?
 

SUGGESTED FOR:

Dedicated to:

Co-ideators:

Related Tags

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY...

Learn more

  LANGUAGE...
 
add a new comment:

In order to keep the high quality of the contents, you must log in to leave a comment


Sign in! New user? Sign up!

Comments

20070309153215-arbol

by astuledano (Toledo, Spain) January 14th 2009

since: 01/09/2009, Brain-fu: 16140

yes, i like it

REPORT ABUSE

Report Abuse

20070309153215-arbol

by astuledano (Toledo, Spain) January 15th 2009

since: 01/09/2009, Brain-fu: 16140

but i don't understand the last part

REPORT ABUSE

Report Abuse

Img-default-user2

by Liongold (Indore, India) January 24th 2009

since: 10/10/2008, Brain-fu: 440

Basically, what it means is that it is possible to control inflation for all products for which you have received green points. However, it gets a little trickier for those products which don't receive green points. Inflation must occur, however, because there is a percepetible change in the income.
However, I believe I have solved this problem. If inflation gets too large, it is possibly to simply lower the supply of green points. This means you'll be buying objects but not making much money off of them. This slows inflation, long enough for other methods to siphon off the excess money in circulation.

REPORT ABUSE

Report Abuse

Enlightenment

by N69 (New Delhi, India) May 12th 2010

since: 05/01/2010, Brain-fu: 184

....Decently nice...-)

REPORT ABUSE

Report Abuse

Thumbnail_2_

by badfaith (Kent, United Kingdom) July 5th 2010

since: 03/09/2010, Brain-fu: 18890

Sorry I read this one late... but it is genius.
like a supermarket club card or nectar points system tailored for good environmental consumption.
Vote++++++++++

REPORT ABUSE

Report Abuse