The Open Fair Credit Standard discussion group.

OFCS is a proposal for an advanced credit tracking and property management system. It is intended to be the software platform upon which globalized, fair-trade credit systems and local credit systems can be easily launched and managed. It emphasizes two main values:

1. The multidimensional nature of transactions - the true cost of goods, without externalities.

2. Global standards of value - using normative measurements and fixing price to absolute cost

When we exchange currency for work done or for goods, we are forced to value everything on one scale. This is a blunt instrument for measuring value, which is after all, a personal matter. We now have the technology to price our goods and services in more just ways. and to better reflect and value the different costs involved in making them. What if, instead of the government fixing a business-friendly carbon-emission price, the carbon-emissions were passed on directly to the consumer? Then instead of the consumer making an 'informed' choice from carbon footprint labels, the consumer would be weighing up the money cost and the carbon cost of the prospective purchase.

That is merely one possible application of OFCS. Many other possible applications exist, including free-trade systems devoid of capitalism (i.e. Proudhon's Mutualism), or planned economies without centralized government (i.e. Michael Albert's Participatory Economics or "Parecon"). The important thing is that OFCS enables these disparate systems to interact globally, to accommodate the complex meshwork of our civilization without sacrificing the technological advantages we enjoy.

Please explore the files and documents section for more details, and post questions only after searching all of the message threads. We're trying to improve the existing files as well as expand our web presence.