Criteria
29 criteria in five domains. Each says what an economic system ought to achieve and sets a Pass Threshold, split into clauses. A score of 1.0 needs every clause shown by named evidence; 0.0 means no structural mechanism addresses the criterion.
- From premises to criteria
- Material Security
- Human Autonomy
- System Resilience
- Ethical Integrity
- Implementation Viability
From premises to criteria
NEEC is built in layers. Six empirical premises about the present economy ground 14 core criteria, the philosophical layer the Paper calls NEEC Core. Each of the 29 applied criteria is derived from one or more core criteria and belongs to one of 5 domains. The premises and core criteria are stated in the Paper, sections 3 and 4; each applied criterion's derivation is on its page.
- Automation and Labor Decoupling. AI and automation reduce the long-run necessity of human labor for material production.
- Economic Coercion as Distinct Harm. Coercion arising from deprivation produces measurable social harm independent of efficiency considerations.
- Crises Are Structural, Not Anomalous. Recurrent shocks are features of complex systems, not deviations from normal conditions.
- Ecological Hard Constraints. Biophysical limits are non-negotiable boundaries that economic activity must respect.
- Governance Capture Without Safeguards. All governance systems are vulnerable to elite capture without explicit institutional design to resist it.
- Economic Systems Shape Political Legitimacy. Distribution of economic power affects state capacity and democratic function. System design cannot be separated from governance design.
The Paper derives the core criteria from the premises taken together and gives no premise-by-criterion table, so the diagram draws no links from the premises. Point to, or tab to, a core criterion or an applied criterion to trace its links.
The same links as a table
| Core criterion | Applied criteria derived from it |
|---|---|
N1 Human Flourishing Primacy | C1.1, C1.3, C2.2, C2.3, C2.4, C3.6, C4.3 |
N2 Labor Non-Necessity | C1.1, C1.4, C2.1, C2.2 |
N3 Coercion Minimization | C1.1, C1.2a, C1.3, C2.1, C2.5, C2.6, C4.4, C4.5 |
N4 Universal Wealth Access | C1.2a, C1.2b, C1.5, C4.5 |
N5 Crisis and Shock Robustness | C3.1, C3.2, C3.3, C4.1 |
N6 Ecological Compliance | C4.2, C4.6 |
N7 Governance Legitimacy and Anti-Capture | C1.2b, C1.5, C2.4, C2.6, C3.4, C3.5, C4.3, C4.4, C5.4 |
N8 Epistemic Adaptability | C3.4, C5.1 |
N9 Partial and Parallel Deployability | C2.5, C5.1, C5.2, C5.3, C5.4 |
N10 Failure-Mode Transparency | C3.1, C3.3, C3.5 |
N11 Automation Compatibility | C1.4 |
N12 Intergenerational Equity | C4.1, C4.2 |
N13 Incentive Alignment (Micro ↔ Macro) | C2.3, C3.2, C3.6, C4.6 |
N14 Global Scalability Without Extraction | C5.5 |
Material Security
Can the system provide material necessities reliably and universally? Up to 6 points.
| Code | Criterion | Pass threshold | Change in v2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
C1.1 | Poverty Elimination Capacity | ≥90% poverty reduction within 20 years under base scenario, ≥85% under stress testing | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C1.2a | Wealth Building for Resilience | ≥$60,000 median net-wealth accumulation over 20 years for 70%+ of participants, in constant 2019 US dollars at purchasing-power parity | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C1.2b | Prevention of Exploitative Accumulation | Gini <0.35 for wealth distribution | Wording, commentary or disclosure only |
C1.3 | Housing Security | ≥88% housing stability over 5-year periods, housing costs ≤30% of disposable income at 80% of regional median household disposable income | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C1.4 | Automation Resilience | Poverty <8% and aggregate demand >85% baseline in each of the 30%, 50% and 70% displacement scenarios | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C1.5 | Universal Wealth Access | ≥80% population with an active wealth-accumulation pathway | Wording, commentary or disclosure only |
Human Autonomy
Does the system maximize human freedom and self-determination? Up to 6 points.
| Code | Criterion | Pass threshold | Change in v2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
C2.1 | Freedom from Coercion | ≥70% report genuine autonomy in major life decisions, validated through revealed preference showing acceptance of initially refused employment/living situations when alternatives exist | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C2.2 | Labor Non-Necessity | Unconditional provision covering 100% of basic needs (housing, food, healthcare, utilities) for all residents | Wording, commentary or disclosure only |
C2.3 | Creative Development Opportunities | ≥50% regular creative engagement, average 10+ hours weekly on non-subsistence pursuits, meaning/purpose satisfaction scores ≥70/100 | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C2.4 | Democratic Participation | ≥70% participation in democratic processes, ≥35% citizen proposals adopted, ≥65% satisfaction with responsiveness | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C2.5 | Exit Rights and Mobility | Exit feasible within 3 months without material penalty, no differential treatment, geographic mobility maintained | Clauses deleted only |
C2.6 | Civil Liberties and Rule of Law | Civil-liberties score ≥53 of 60 on the Freedom House checklist; informed consent to medical treatment protected in law; any compulsory treatment, vaccination, quarantine or isolation prescribed by law, time-limited and open to independent judicial review | New criterion |
System Resilience
Can the system maintain function under stress and adapt to change? Up to 6 points.
| Code | Criterion | Pass threshold | Change in v2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
C3.1 | Crisis Response Capacity | Response within 72 hours, scaling 1:1 with crisis severity (30% GDP decline = 30% benefit increase), ≥90% population coverage | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C3.2 | Inflation Control Mechanisms | Long-term inflation ≤3%, stress test inflation ≤5% (when external 8%), automatic adjustment preventing runaway inflation | Unchanged |
C3.3 | Multi-Failure Resistance | Maintain core functions across ≥3 of 4 compound scenarios with degradation <20% | Wording, commentary or disclosure only |
C3.4 | Epistemic Adaptability | ≥30% parameter adjustability range, policy updates within 6 months of evidence, changes open to challenge and reversal by those affected, zero collapses during parameter adjustments | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C3.5 | Failure-Mode Transparency | Failure detection within 1 week, diagnosis success ≥80%, correction success ≥70%, externalization <10% of total costs | Indicator named for an unchanged clause and bar |
C3.6 | Productive and Innovative Capacity | Real output per hour worked non-declining over 20 years, total factor productivity non-declining over 20 years, basic-needs output sustained at the system's own working time | New criterion |
Ethical Integrity
Does the system satisfy justice requirements across time, groups, and power? Up to 6 points.
| Code | Criterion | Pass threshold | Change in v2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
C4.1 | Intergenerational Justice | Debt-to-GDP <80%, positive wealth transfer to next generation | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C4.2 | Ecological Compliance | Consumption-based carbon emissions falling ≥3.8% a year, biodiversity neutral or positive, resource extraction ≤ regeneration, no more than two of the four nationally downscaled planetary boundaries transgressed | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C4.3 | Group Equity | Disparity reduction ≥5 percentage points every 5 years, convergence trajectory toward <20% disparities within 30 years, on each declared axis, non-citizen residents included | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C4.4 | Power Distribution | Democratic accountability for ≥80% of major decisions, removal/replacement mechanisms functional | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C4.5 | Exploitation Elimination | Extraction rates <10% GDP, genuine exit rights from exploitative relationships | Clauses deleted only |
C4.6 | Harm Internalization | Mortality attributed to pollution non-increasing over 20 years; those who cause harm to health or the environment liable for it, enforceably by those harmed; regulation of food, water, air, chemicals and medicines applied and enforced without improper influence (for a configured national economy, a World Justice Project sub-factor 6.2 score of 0.77 or more) | New criterion |
Implementation Viability
Can the system actually be built and sustained? Up to 5 points.
| Code | Criterion | Pass threshold | Change in v2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|
C5.1 | Proven Component Foundation | ≥70% of system components proven through ≥20 years operation at scale ≥10,000 participants, with documented outcomes matching claimed benefits | Wording, commentary or disclosure only |
C5.2 | Staged Transition Pathways | Staged (≥4 phases) and rapid (≤36 months) deployment, with specific milestones, resource requirements and risk mitigation, each shown feasible by precedent or component evidence | Bar, measure or clause restated |
C5.3 | Partial and Parallel Deployability | Viable at ≥30% participation, coexistence with traditional markets maintaining ≥90% economic activity, scaling pathway validated through modeling, coordination protocols established | Unchanged |
C5.4 | Political Coalition Potential | ≥60% support across political spectrum, ≥65% opposition to repeal, survival probability ≥80% across administration changes | Unchanged |
C5.5 | Cultural Adaptability | Viable across ≥3 economic contexts (high/middle/low income), ≥5 cultural contexts, parameter flexibility ≥40% adjustment range, successful operation validated across diverse implementations | Unchanged |
The machine-readable text of every criterion, with its anchors for 1.0, 0.5 and 0.0, is criteria.json.