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Paper short abstract:

This paper brings the macroeconomic and development dimension for a Right Based Economy. It deals with the elements of a macro policy, approaches the concepts of growth and development from a decolonial perspective and proposes a mission-oriented approach for organizing the economy.

Paper long abstract:

A Human Right Based Economy (RBE) is not a natural result of market forces; it requires a political intentionality and clear purposes to guide the economic organization. Thinking about an RBE is a complex and multidisciplinary task, and demands to revisit every aspect of economic relations from the perspective of rights and questioning the idea of social justice implicitly present in Economic theory and in the implementation of economic policy.

An RBE should not limit itself to the protection of vulnerable groups in the face of market failures and undesirable social outcomes. Its purpose requires rethinking the organization of the economy as a whole and the distribution of economic resources and outputs based on normative standards offered by human rights. This contrasts with the mainstream economic view that empties the moral dimension of the economy and reduces social organization to a calculation problem of maximizing individual utility. The efficient functioning of markets does not necessarily result in adequate economic organization from a human rights perspective.

This paper aims to contribute to the discussion of an RBE by bringing the macroeconomic and development dimension. To this end, its first section deals with the elements of a macro policy for an RBE. Among these, the need to rethink monetary and exchange rate policy and the use alternative instruments to fight inflation, additionally it points out that the logic of fighting inflation with unemployment is contradictory with the respect for human rights.

This section also addresses fiscal policy, which is crucial for the construction of an RBE as it defines priorities in the allocation of resources through public spending and taxation. A fiscal policy for a RBE should go beyond Keynesian full employment stabilization and must redefine the concept of fiscal responsibility including human rights as a final goal.

Section 2 approaches the concepts of growth and development and argues that the literature of Latin American structuralism can help with a formulation of an RBE with a decolonial perspective. An RBE should not be omitted from the discussion of the international system's power hierarchies and from the discussion about sovereignty and economic dependence on peripheral countries. In turn, for the progressive realization of rights, these countries should pursue a transformation of their economic structures towards the reduction of their vulnerability to external shocks. Therefore, there is an important productive dimension in RBE, and a material base necessary for the realization of human rights.

Finally, the last section proposes a mission-oriented approach for organizing an RBE. Social and environmental missions focused on areas such as health, education and decarbonization defines the purpose of the development process and seek solutions to specific problems that prevent the full realization of rights. To this end, a variety of policy instruments can be mobilized such as public spending and taxation, the promotion new technologies, industrial policies, incentives for local and sustainable production, among others.