Ministry of the Future

• Book: The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson.

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Review

Alberto, SF Economics Sightings:

"A near-future fictional account of how human race managed a partial victory against climate change (partial because there are still mass extinctions, mass-lethal heat waves etc.). The novel dedicates a lot of attention to economic aspects, from carbon taxations to the subtraction of essentials like health, education and housing to the logic of the market. A special place is reserved for the largest central banks (Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of China), who end up being the world’s reluctant saviours. They do so by bailing out struggling banks against equity, which effectively nationalized most commercial banks, and by underwriting a currency that consists in tradeable tokens represented future disbursements against tons of carbon sequestered from the atmosphere. Transactions in this currency are blockchained and de-anonymized, which allows full financial transparency and even a takedown of the tax havens. Eco-terrorism also plays a significant role in driving the transition in the book."

(https://edgeryders.eu/t/econ-sf-a-selection-of-works-and-authors/8582)