# Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie - ein Wirtschaftsmodell mit Zukunft | Christian Felber | TEDxKollerschlag Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKgxImpYkso Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/DKgxImpYkso Generated: 2025-11-24T16:41:52.052+00:00 --- ## Quick Overview Christian Felber argues that the current economic model, focused on capital accumulation, is flawed and must be replaced by the "Economy for the Common Good" (Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie), which he developed based on ancient philosophical principles contrasting with modern market logic, aiming to measure success by ethical values like fairness, solidarity, and ecological sustainability rather than just profit. **Key Points:** - Felber advocates for the Economy for the Common Good (GWÖ) as a necessary alternative to the current profit-driven economic model, which he claims leads to issues like climate crises and social inequality. - The GWÖ model, conceived by Felber, relies on ten core values including fairness, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, and democratic participation. - He notes that the concept of balancing economic success with higher ethical values is not new, referencing Aristotle's distinction between two types of economy (one focused on mere sustenance, the other on 'good living'). - Felber highlights that 1,400 organizations and several regions/cities already use the GWÖ balance sheet, which measures success based on these values rather than solely on financial metrics like GDP. - He points out that the current system favors capital-intensive industries (like automotive and energy) over labor-intensive ones (like baking and care work) because capital accumulation is prioritized over ethical considerations. - Felber emphasizes that the goal is to create a framework where ethical values (like fairness, dignity, and sustainability) are integrated into business metrics, leading to better overall societal outcomes. ![Screenshot at 00:03: Speaker Christian Felber is introduced at TEDx Kollerschlag, with the title slide displaying the topic: 'Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie: Ein Wirtschaftsmodell, dessen Zeit gekommen ist' \(Economy for the Common Good: An economic model whose time has come\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/DKgxImpYkso/00-00-03.png) **Context:** Christian Felber is presenting at TEDxKollerschlag about his concept, the Economy for the Common Good (Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie). This economic model seeks to redefine success beyond mere financial profit by integrating ethical and social values into a formal balance sheet, contrasting sharply with the traditional market economy's focus on capital accumulation and growth metrics like GDP. ## Detailed Analysis Christian Felber advocates for replacing the current market economy, which he asserts prioritizes capital accumulation and leads to negative externalities like climate crises and social inequality, with his model: the Economy for the Common Good (GWÖ). He grounds his proposal in ancient philosophy, specifically citing Aristotle's distinction between two types of economy: one focused on material sustenance (oikonomia) and the other on achieving a 'good life' (chrematistike). Felber claims the modern system is stuck in the latter, focusing only on wealth accumulation, which results in social problems such as people being stressed, cold, or hungry, and environmental damage (like acid rain or nuclear waste). He introduces the GWÖ balance sheet, which measures success based on ten ethical values, including fairness, solidarity, ecological sustainability, social justice, and democratic participation. He notes that currently, 1,400 organizations globally, including companies, municipalities (like Munich and Vienna), and educational institutions, use this balance sheet to measure their contribution to the common good, which he argues should be the ultimate goal over maximizing profit or GDP. Felber suggests that by prioritizing ethical values, companies that focus on care work, ecological production, or social responsibility (like the apple growers vs. the nuclear industry example) would be favored, shifting the focus from maximizing profit to maximizing overall societal well-being and creating a more sustainable and just economy. ### Introduction and Physical Demonstration - Felber opens with physical comedy, doing a handstand (00:16) and falling down (00:25) to illustrate the instability or imbalance of the current system before introducing the topic of economy. ### The Problem with Current Economics - Felber contrasts the current system, which measures success by maximizing profit and GDP (00:54), with a system based on human and ethical values (00:37), noting that current metrics ignore things like happiness, peace, and environmental health. ### The Economy for the Common Good (GWÖ) - Felber contrasts the current 'market economy' with the 'common good economy' (01:53), where goals are defined bottom-up (02:23) by citizens, focusing on ethical values like fairness, solidarity, and sustainability, rather than solely on financial metrics. ### Empirical Evidence and Application - He cites that 1,400 organizations already use the GWÖ balance sheet (02:59), and that companies in sectors like organic farming and renewable energy (04:06) are already succeeding under this framework, which prioritizes ethical performance over pure profit maximization (05:56). ![Screenshot at 00:03: Speaker Christian Felber is introduced at TEDx Kollerschlag, with the title slide displaying the topic: 'Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie: Ein Wirtschaftsmodell, dessen Zeit gekommen ist' \(Economy for the Common Good: An economic model whose time has come\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/DKgxImpYkso/00-00-03.png) ![Screenshot at 00:16: Christian Felber performs an unexpected handstand on stage to humorously illustrate the instability or imbalance of the current economic system.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/DKgxImpYkso/00-00-16.png) ![Screenshot at 02:30: Felber is kneeling on stage, discussing the fundamental difference between the current economic model and the envisioned 'Gemeinwohl-Ökonomie' \(Economy for the Common Good\).](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/DKgxImpYkso/00-02-30.png) ![Screenshot at 04:27: Felber uses his hands to illustrate ten core values \(like gratitude, fairness, peace\) that the GWÖ model incorporates, contrasting them with traditional metrics.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/DKgxImpYkso/00-04-27.png) ![Screenshot at 13:12: A slide titled 'Non-monetärer Erfolg neu messen' \(Measuring non-monetary success anew\) is displayed, contrasting the traditional GDP focus with the GWÖ approach that integrates ethical and social dimensions.](https://ss.rapidrecap.app/screens/DKgxImpYkso/00-13-12.png)