Sufficiency Economy Some Critical Issues Anantha Kumar Duraiappah UNU-IHDP

Key Principles  Reasonable comfortable life  Without excess or over indulgence in luxury  Enough  Happiness – the Inverted “U” curve

The Phased Approach Phase 1 – First Level –Partial Practice – Long term profits – not myopic Phase 2 – Second Level –Comprehension – Happy workforce Phase 3 – Third Level –Inspiration – Useful for Society (Social Enterprise”

Key Questions What is sufficient? –Subjective and Individual based –Dynamic and continuously changing –Evolving as economic, social and environmental conditions change –Context specific to culture, beliefs and values –Scaling up and going beyond agriculture –Adaptive preferences

Key Pre-requisites Moderation – low risk high human security Versus High risk – High Returns

Key Pre-requisites  Evaluating Progress  Reward System

Individual Level Functionings Capabilities Instrumental Freedoms

What are Capabilities the various combinations of functionings (beings and doings) that the person can achieve. [It] is, thus, a set of vectors of functionings, reflecting the person’s freedom to lead one type of life or another...to choose from possible livings. (Inequality Re-examined)

The Capability Approach Emphasis on distributive aspects Concern with “Justice” and “Efficiency” Distinction between “well-being” and “agency” Ability to gain resources  ability to use resources Poverty : lack of income (resources) is only part of the story Poverty as basic capability deprivation

Endowments to Capabilities Realized Capability Space Endowment Space Instrumental Freedom Space Participative Freedom Economic Facilities Social Opportunities Transparency Guarantees Protective Security Ecological Security Institutional Framework Institutions Organizations Instruments

With the Capability Approach: Demand for Responsibility based Justice Demand for Fair Access to Resources and Resource Use (Pattern-Use) Multidimensional Assessment of Well-Being Investigation of the depth of poverty

The Macro Level The Productive Base of Society –Human Capital –Social Capital –Natural Capital –Produced Capital

IWR 2012 Key Points  Human Well-being depends on a portfolio of capital assets  Sustainability of well-being implies a non- decreasing productive base –or portfolio of capital assets  Assets are inter-dependent and rate of transformation and substitution depends on getting correct valuation of assets.

IWR 2012