“2100: A Good Life in a Global Economy”

2016 Schokkaert, Erik. “2100: A Good Life in a Global Economy.” ‘A Truly Golden Handbook’: The Scholarly Quest for Utopia. Ed. Veerle Achten, Geert Bouckaert, and Erik Schokkaert (Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press, 2016), 274-87. MH

An essay that presents a better future that has overcome the most important problems of the early twenty-first century, which are identified as the environment, including climate-change, migration from the South to the North, and international inequalities, which are said to be interrelated. The eutopia has a world, but decentralized, governmental structure, with the world government elected through the internet with everyone voting on the same list of candidates. There is a CO₂ tax that encouraged local production and stimulated investment in clean technologies. There are no limits on migration and an international open market, international social insurance, and income redistribution. There are multi-generational living arrangements and joint leisure activities and cultural and religious diversity. The essay ends with a brief section on how to achieve these goals. The Belgian author is a Professor in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.