The third pillar of a “functional” society includes all institutions and organizations involved with controlling or managing the economy and finance, which includes some aspects of profit-making organizations.  Excluded are all social institutions and organizations of society, and democratic institutions and organizations and politics.  “Functional” in these Posts means that the institutions and organizations of each separate pillar of society (social, political, economic/financial) functions in a manner that helps support that society.  Often we have seen where one pillar is dysfunctional while the other two pillars are functional. 

Historically, economic policies have been modified to enable the development and/or continuation of improving economic conditions for the nation.  Stimulus incentives began their use with U.S. Federal deficit spending during the Great Depression of the 30’s.  This has been used repeatedly, but it is an unsustainable incentive.  Continued boosting of an economy does decrease unemployment and provides good results in the stock market, but overuse of it is much like using nitrous oxide fuel injection into an already high performing engine.  It can be used, but at the expense of sustainable longevity of the engine. 

Deficit spending is “borrowing growth” from the future:   It is eminently unsustainable with the high likelihood that one day the economy will have a huge correction.  Huge induced growth or artificial growth, as we saw in the 2008 U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, caused a global recession that some nations still have not recovered from. 

Financial institutions and organizations are the conduits of an economy.  They work fine until someone or some board of directors of huge financial institutions violate the regulations that were designed to maintain a sustainable financial market place.  Finance is a milieu where ego and fear can express as authority, control and power in its worst expressions.  Unsustainable economic policies and financial manipulations as Ponzi schemes (Bernard Madoff) cannot be hidden forever. 

The three values of social sustainability (quality of life, growth and equality) offer the potential to define “What is fair?” in the most personal and in the macro-societal sense; and to define the parameters of social justice and social equity.  Until this Third Pillar of society invokes the 3 values of social sustainability, individuals and the public will continue to be subject to the vicissitudes of economic and financial manipulations.