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President of the European Commission

Dear Ms von der Leyen,

Trump’s application of his power creates a power vacuum which you can fill by launching an economy in which consumers safeguard the integrity of Nature.

In this economy the planetary ecological problems vanish. Eventually this economy absorbs also the US economy. Whoever controls the economy of a country, controls that country.

Ecological problems vanish when consumers spend their money exclusively on products that keep the environment unharmed.

They will do so when they receive 30 % of the ecological value of any purchase they make, in reduction of the price to be paid.

–  The ecological value of a product is the percentage of its costs of production that was made for goods and services that used natural resources in a sustainable manner.
–   If one buys a 100€ shirt with a 50% ecological value one receives 15€ in reduction.  –

With such a reward, it will be in the financial and personal interests of consumers, two powerful drives in human behaviour, to search for and buy products that left the environment in good shape.

All consumers can be remunerated with the money which is now being spent on repairing the damage to the environment caused by our present ways of living. Since it is less costly to keep anything in good condition than having to repair it continuously, there is enough money to reward the consumer for living in harmony with Nature.

The practise of rewarding the consumer with a percentage of the ecological value of each purchase, eventually establishes a balance between the financial and personal interests of the consumer and the similar interests of the producer in developing an economy in which only products are traded that are increasingly hundred percent ecological

Once paid the consumer will keep the streams of costs of living within the boundaries of Nature. According to Chat GPT The costs of living comprise a significant part of the global economy, typically estimated between 60-70% of GDP in many developed and emerging markets.

The consumer is the Pilot of economic development. The invisible hand of Adam Smith is the hand of the consumer.

More at www.biosustainable.org The Ethical Market Economy

Once you decided to fill this power vacuum with the Ethical Market Economy, I offer to help you launch it successfully.

Respectfully yours,

Willem Adrianus de Bruijn

Hoeilaart, 17 November 2024

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It is no longer possible to ensure mankind’s survival with the macroeconomic practice of maintaining growth in the development of the economy. 

That practice can be replaced with the one of preserving the integrity[1] of Nature in the development of the economy.  It is one way to ensure a sustainable development defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need”[2].  

Only the consumer can effectively and efficiently keep the Earth in good condition, because he can spend his money on products that do not harm the environment.  

Give the consumer a financial interest in maintaining ways of living that safeguard the integrity of Nature and he will do this consciously, with pleasure and out of self interest.  Realizing that living in harmony with Nature is a good way of living, he will want to continue living in this way. 

The macroeconomic practice of preserving the integrity of Nature is then bound to appeal to the consumer because he is interested to guide the advancement of the streams of commodities towards progressing within the green borders of Nature.  

[1] Merriam Webster definition of integrity https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/integrity

[2] IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) https://www.iisd.org/about-iisd/sustainable-development

The ethical market economy that evolves from consumers caring for the environment is explained under Ethical Market Economy (EME) Report  at www.biosustainable.org/Ethical Market Economy.  

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