- the economics of you -

  • Apr 19

    If you are a serious helper, teacher, facilitator, poverty-fighter, productivity coach or parent, you may appreciate some ideas about other things you could try– and where we’re headed. And you may be curious to see that we’re not another “do-better, run-faster, study-harder” advice-giver. Our specific objectives are to-

    A. show them (the young, productively unexperienced) their individual futures (if they continue as they are),
    B. enable them to discover themselves,
    C. show them what they need to know now,
    D. enable them to develop a map to their chosen futures,
    Not exactly a straight route, but we are confident that a map through these concepts will be clear– and different for each.



    Do this






    1 Play BUX for fun. From scores, deter- mine the highest ER, economic ranking Let’s play a game about making money. Attracts and focuses on productive experiences Ages 10 & up. Fun. Saves words, lessons, time…
    2 After play, connect feelings while playing to various game situations and their actions/reactions How did you feel when you had many chips? Few chips? Others were ahead? Connects emotions to actions and events. They’re related. Demonstrates players’ control of feelings thru material world conditions
    3 Enable them to make connections between the game and the real world Cards are resources, chips are money, sets are products, drawn cards are opportunities, prices are… To show that this could be their material futures– if no changes Leveling, confidence, self-esteem, success-knowledge builder.
    [Table found here.]


    4 Facilitate self-productivity exploration Who are you and what do you want to do in life? Questions they nat- urally ask themselves Gordon Allport’s 7th Stage of personality developm’t
    5 Discuss personality. Show how we differ in thoughts, emotions, actions Some are introverts, some feel, some logical, artistic. We’re all different. No one way for all. We’re born with personal- ities that influence us.
    6 Give your subjects a quick traits-based personality test. (on paper or Internet) Go to: Humanmetrics.com A quick and  effective place to start showing differences. Introvert, extrovert, intuitive, sensing, thinking, planning…
    7 Investigate personal attitudes– their outlook on themselves, others and the environment. Are you optimistic or pessimistic? But attitudes can change. How? Change and growth, at  the core of this process, can be stimulated. Attitudes can change with persuasion– Advertising is about changing attitudes.
    10 Try to merge personalities, interests, strengths and preferences into possible career directions. Introvert, thinking, loves numbers, curious– mathematician? Looking for general directions to excite career interests There are methods for this synthesis– some technical, some less so.
    11 Facilitate them to visualize their desired futures. (Don’t restrict. Go with it. We can’t predict.) “Where will you be living? What will you have? What will you be doing for work? A self vision gives direction, meaning and motivation to the effort. The clearer and more concrete, the better. And it can always change.
    12 Evaluation; Now that they have connected concepts about themselves, do they feel different? How? “Do you see yourself differently now?” “How are you different?” “Why?” A reflection on personal understanding and realignment of focus A look at themselves building their own value. Birth of a new effort?
    Demonstrate how we think and how we can think more creatively and productively. Google: Edward de Bono, lateral thinking, If change is possible, thoughts must precede actions. Creativity and innovation are keys to progress and economic growth.
    15 Define perceived limits and what it is to exceed them. Exploration of the unknown. Columbus, space travel, a sub-4-minute mile, computer We usually benefit when limits are exceeded Limits are changed by vision, courage, will and performance.


    24 Discuss lack-of-money issue. It requires a certain, deliberate and focused strategy to reach ones’ vision. Avoid distractions. Focus on the vision. “Some players start out with less. They need to play a more focused life-game.” In their BUX experience, they have seen winning players start with little Comparison of starting behind in BUX game to starting behind in life. It is always possible to win.





    That’s pretty much the outline for the process. It may look long and short on details. But about its length, depending on its purpose, this material– after the playing of the game, can be covered within a couple hours, or over a period of four to ten to twelve to 28 45- or 90-minute classes, or over any period of time in the case of self-learners progressing at their own chosen pace. It depends on the purpose of presentation/ application, the flow of the concepts and what is omitted, emphasized or deemphasized. And about its details: Although anecdotally tested for years at the elementary, middle school and college course levels with encouraging results, many developmental details have been experienced and addressed– including some advanced (post-statistical/AI) mathematical methods for individualization not yet in the public domain. To go into all this here would be counter-productive.







  • Jul 14

    The name ICANomics says, “I CAN master my own econOMICS (thank you).”

    The reason we created ICANomics is that the subject of economics is quite difficult for most to understand. In high school, where one would think practical economics could be important to teach, it is part of social studies which is itself only one-twentieth (1/20!) of the total high school curriculum. And the economics that’s taught in elementary, middle and high schools has little or no relevance directly to the individual– you. ICANomics, although it follows many of the same basic rules as economics, is something you do rather than something you study. It applies directly to your use of resources and your ability to produce and sell goods and services. In other words, the money you get paid should be  directly dependent on the value that you offer the economy. (More on this later.) The way the system is supposed to work, if what you do has little value, you shouldn’t expect too much. (Of course we all know people who appear to do little and collect a lot, and vice versa. Stay tuned.) So, what ICANomics does is help you up your game to create more value for yourself and while you’re at it, the economy.

    As we continue, the differences and similarities between ICANomics and economics will become more apparent. But for now, let’s just say that ICANomics is about your active involvement rather than your passive observation. The study of economics is about keeping track of the resources in our world. It is more about knowledge and is learned by studying theories, definitions, formulas and curves as they relate to the flows of resources. ICANomics is about keeping track of your own material position in the world. It is more about your skills and is learned by doing– focused, interactive experimentation, emotional reactions and the understanding of the big economic picture. That is why economics is understood primarily by studying information  while ICANomics is understood primarily by interactively experiencing a game.

    Sure, ICANomics could be approached from a purely intellectual point of view, and mathematicians, theorists, philosophers, educators, psychologists… will have points of view. This is only natural. But ultimately knowledge must be tested, it’s value to mankind assessed, conclusions drawn, and the question answered: “Was this of benefit to human development?”

    A complex civilization like ours without economics is unimaginable. How else would we know and keep track of who owned what, how our resources were being used, who was producing what, and the value (economic worth) of things? Trading would be based on nothing. Money would have no standard value. The world would be utterly chaotic, ignorance would be normal and might would always be right. A case can be made for economics being the backbone of our existence– as we know it. So, if this is true, it’s up to us to keep economics alive, to do our parts, to contribute what we are best at while receiving the rewards from our efforts. ICANomics is attempting to augment the study of economics and the performance of our economy by stimulating the individual economic growth of those with capabilities– which is virtually everyone.

    Naturally, ICANomics cannot speak directly and individually to you. But, it can do the next best thing. ICANomics can, through not yet released technology, give you the experience of a materially successful and unsuccessful life, put you in touch with your inner self (redundant we know), put you in touch with those who can help you, bring out your best talents and strengths, synthesize your attributes and interests, help you construct a vision for your future, give you vital/visual knowledge, help you construct a path to your vision, enable you to visually structure your material life, present you with the tools that you can control, and show you how to get your economically-valuable self into the global economy. And this on an individual basis. Tall order? Yes, but that is the task ahead.

    For ICANomics to deliver on this ambitious promise, it will depend on a highly robust networked technology of unprecedented scope, supply and demand stakeholders working together with singular purpose, scientific and technological breakthroughs and forthcoming resources.

    ICANomics is doing for itself what it says you CAN do for yourself.

  • Jul 12

    Our assumption is that once you are earning the kind of money you want from doing what you like, you’ll be on your way. But before we go any further, we must get one thing straight and there is no way around this. You must be good at what you do. Today, average just ain’t cuttin’ it. And that old idea about “get an education and you’ll get a good job” was deleted almost ten years ago. Your relative reward will be roughly proportional to your economic value– the quality of work that you turn out. You know this, but I don’t want you to think that if you want to be an artist, you are automatically going to be successful just because you did what is necessary to be successful.

    Now to the specifics. Here is how we plan to present our information to you. We’re going to sequentially cover a number of topics. Each topic will be a concept that you should understand to a degree that makes you feel comfortable. You don’t have to study and memorize every word. But you must make every effort to apply the concept to yourself, your experiences and what you are trying to do. Whether you want to be a teacher, a minister, a race car driver, a computer programmer or an animal shelter owner, try to apply each concept to your efforts. The better you do this, the more you will get from it and the more progress you will make.

    We, you and I, fully understand that we are on an ambitious venture together– something like a game, a venture or a quest. We will encounter unfamiliar things. But using all our collective experiences as one, one of us will have the experience or an idea how to get by it, and we will all benefit from that.

    So here is the planned, general layout. (It may have to change based on what we encounter.)

    1. Play the BUX game to an ER ranking of at least 20. This game when played to win, enables you to experience-
    • creating value by putting resources together in a competitive world, and
    • making money by selling what you have created.
    We produced this game for this purpose.

    2. Understanding the game will anable you to make connections between your performance in the game, how the game relates to the economy and most importantly, how you relate to the economy. (Instead of more words, you’ll see and feel the connections. You’ll understand the game and how to make it through our journey.)

    3. Find out about who you are;
    • the personality you were born with and can’t change much,
    • your attitude and your outlook on life,
    • your interests and what you like doing, and how combining your attributes and preferences can point the way to your dream future.

    4. Show you why you behave the way you do, how you (we) think and how we must change that to continue, what you (we all) need to make our lives more comfortable, and a view of our limits and how we can go beyond them. (Yes, it can be scary. We are there now.)

    5. Give you necessary knowledge, for example about money, value, supply-demand, and a picture of economics that will have you seeing where you fit in in a few minutes. (Advice such as “stay in school” and “work hard” by themselves is about as useful as a track coach telling her runners to “run faster.” Sure, but how?)

    6. Help you to structure your own individual pathway to your success, the sequence of individual challenges you must overcome to continue on your way. (Each of us will have different challenges depending on where we start and where we have to go.) [I am not without my own challenges trying to get the resources to make this vision possible. So, I am in it too. When I speak to you I am also speaking to myself.]

    7. Build with you through discussion more connections involving more concepts, most likely concepts that are in your experience, not mine. (This expansion of connections, properly categorized, will be helpful to all of us.)

    8. Present you with the components, the tools that you can control, as in a game, to get you through your journey. These tools in no particular order are:
    • Knowledge– what you know to get things done,
    • Skills– your ability, experience and performance to get things done,
    • Resources– what you have available to you to build value,
    • Time– the unforgotten, equal-opportunity, usable but diminishing resource,
    • Opportunities– chances that come and go for you to make progress,
    • Risk– taking action with uncertain results,
    • People– the help you need from others to get things done,
    • Technology– the latest, most efficient, easiest and usually enjoyable way of doing things, and
    • Action– the physical and emotional effort that you put forward to get things done.

    9. Get you into the global economy by:
    • Taking a final look at the global economic picture and your specific target– you must see what you are aiming for,
    • Considering labor, jobs and a career– exactly what you must do to get paid,
    • Getting a job– what you must do to plug yourself into the system,
    • Getting paid for your ideas– the steps to take from dreams to getting paid,
    • Helping you become an entrepreneur– starting your own company and doing your own thing, and
    • Putting it all together– making everything on this site work for you.

    10. You’re there– achieving your goal or seeing it in sight. (Some goals we take a lifetime to approach. We never quite get there, but have fun doing it while making a good living in the process.)

    So there you have it, our plan as of now. Do we know every step? No. But we know where we want to go. And like a car going through the darkness, we are depending on our headlights to light the way in front of us as we move forward. And when we get there, we’ll know.

  • Jul 9

    Turn on the news. Economics-economics-economics… …unemployment… …the dollar… …foreclosures… …cutbacks… …national debt… …consumer debt… …less of this and less of that… …stimulus… …price increases… What does all this mean to you personally? Not much? The experts are simply telling you what is happening and what you already know. Sure, we need to do something to grow the economy, but what can we do and how can we to do it? Any specific ideas from the experts? Is there anything that we can do now to help “the economy” or better yet, help ourselves?

    The objective of ICANomics.com is to start a constructive conversation about new productive ideas– self-productive ideas around a specific process that could help us out of our various economic predicaments. If such a process could be developed, it may be possible that some of us could follow it in our unique way, to increase our productivity and incomes thereby helping ourselves (and “the economy”). This is no get-rich-quick scheme. You’ll not be shown how to balance your checkbook or invest in stocks and bonds. You must have money before you can do those things. We are about earning money and economic survival in a new economy. Today’s economy has fewer traditional, good paying jobs, yet most are continuing to look for them. For many, this economy is about feeling out of control while waiting for what we hope to be economic growth. It’s an economy of big data, big needs, big money and big gridlock. Where do we fit in? What can we do for ourselves?

    There are ways out of our own private predicaments. (Finding the ways is the challenge.) ICANomics is trying something new. And even though we know we are making mistakes, with your help, we can correct our errors and move on. In doing this, we will have at least started the ball in motion. It will pick up speed when we get involved and work together, sharing the load, each for our own benefit. Our objective is to help you reach your objective. Take what you can get here and use it in your special, unique way to get to where you want to be. Only you know that place.

    We are playing a game of sorts, where you are the hero in your own game, going for what you choose against the forces of economic resistance. So, here is the first major decision of your game: would you risk (1) some time, (2) some focused effort and (3) a little money to be shown a clear way to your specific life’s objective? Think about that. Your answer will tell you how much you think your future is worth.

    Plug-and-play! (1) learn the rules, (2), plug yourself in and (3) play your game to your chosen future.

    More about you and the process to come.