
Incentives Determine How the World Is. They play a massive role in how humans live their everyday lives. From small tasks like taking out the trash or filing forms to larger feats of perseverance and ambition, almost every action we take is motivated by its potential reward.
Despite this deep-rooted understanding of incentives, many of us have yet to realize the extent to which they determine our reality as a whole. Incentives are one of the most influential forces driving humanity forward — If we don’t like the state of the world, we have to look at the incentives to explain the causes.
With an honest look at today’s global incentive system, we’re better equipped to make decisions when faced with difficulty.
Incentives and Their Impact on the World
Incentives are all around us, but few take the time to truly understand them and their vast impacts. Whether talking about rewards for completing tasks or penalties for making mistakes, incentives determine how much of the world moves throughout the day.
They are a cause and effect, changing our decisions around what is in our best interest – for instance studying for a test to pass with flying colors versus going out on a Friday night. Incentives drive human behavior in both big and small ways, from international policymakers to our closest friends.
Incentives have become a cornerstone of society and will always influence major aspects of our lives.
Incentives Have Shaped Human Behavior
From cave dwellers to modern-day citizens, actions are and have always been, driven by incentives. On a personal level, actions that lead to rewards take shape in the form of a new job with a higher salary or securing a bank loan for a better house.
On a larger scale, governments functionalize under the expectation of being rewarded for their actions in the form of loyalty from their constituents to keep them in power.
No matter the size or scope, incentives determine the actions of individuals and groups; these actions shape and drive the world toward our present future.
Our Incentives Result in Many Problems
Incentives have a powerful influence on how the world operates, however, a darker side exists when greed takes hold. Left unchecked, incentives can lead to the exploitation of people and resources for narrow-minded personal gain. This can result in apathy towards others who are facing challenges that are beyond their control or overwhelmed with the resulting externalities of destructive greed. Unraveling this web is complicated but recognizing its existence is the first step toward crafting a better future.
Problems that Incentives are Causing:

Are We Headed for Another World War?

Division Like Crazy!

Drug Addiction

Inequality

The Health Care Crisis

The Middle Class is Getting Squeezed
The Effects of Incentives on Politics and Policy Decisions
Incentives have a significant impact on politics and policy decisions. Incentives often play into populism, with lies used to placate voters for the promise of promises kept. All too often this populism creates an environment conducive to corruption and rent-seeking, where private interests are put ahead of public ones. Incentives can be powerful motivators, but when misappropriated they can lead to negative outcomes with far-reaching consequences.
Incentives In Society
Incentives drive the engine of society.
Motivated by reward, by profit, by the reward of values both intrinsic and extrinsic, individuals strive for accomplishments, for advancement with each pursuit creating rippling effects that influence the larger world.
We have seen what incentives can do to build bridges between nations or cast a wider net of understanding between cultures. On an individual level, incentives act as fuel in our ambitions and achievements pushing us forward to reward systems that tangibly reflect those motivations – tangible reward systems like money or title but psychological rewards like status or admiration too.
Our Incentives Are There for Many Reasons
We are humans, a complex species with often-conflicting goals. And that complexity translates to the complicated society we have. There are so many reasons we have the outcomes we do, but it comes back to incentives.
Our societal Incentives are the reason behind most of the worst parts of our society.
Our incentives are behind counterproductive behavior and results like:

An Inept, Lazy and Compromised Media

Complicated Causes of a Complicated World

Corporate Personhood

Irresponsible Corporations

Lobbying – Just Super Lame

Our Broken Election System

Rent Seeking

Rising Inequality – Enough is Enough

So. Much. Waste.

The Financial System is Corrupt

Vicious Cycles: Escaping the Cycle of Failure

We Only Do Things That Make Money
Fixing Our Incentives Can Achieve Many Goals
We can achieve great things if we focus on fixing our incentives. By designing better strategies and structures to incentivize positive behavior, we can work towards a future with more fairness, equality, and opportunity for all. Incentives can also help create an environment of collaboration between individuals, businesses, and nations to bring about the common good.
If we get our incentives right, we can reach goals like:

A Productive Private Sector: Aligning the Free Market with the Common Good

Healthy People – Building a Stronger Nation

Real News: Unbiased Sources of Information

The Circular Economy
It’s time that we recognize the power of incentives, and begin to use them for the greater good. Incentives can be a powerful tool in creating a better world – let’s make sure we use them wisely.
Strategies to Improve Our Incentives
Examine the power of incentives in an economic context, and you’ll find prioritizing results can efficiently produce more wealth and reward more of the upper echelons.
Free markets offer less inequality amongst participants but can be marred by capitalism’s exploitative nature if it goes unchecked.
Incentives must remain a key part of the economic structure, but they must be prioritized so a fair result is reached as often as possible.

Aligning Incentives: Using the Free Market to Create a Better World

Champion Honest Pay

Close the Carried Interest Loophole

Getting Money Out of Government

Impact Consumerism

Legal Reform

Pigovian Taxes

Prioritize Human Flourishing

Reduce Health Care Cost

Reform the Finance Industry

Reform the FIRE Sector

Reform the Media

Reward “Good” Work

Systems Thinking: Navigating Complexity

The Humanity Index

The Simple Solution to All Our Problems

Virtuous Cycles Can Solve All Global Challenges
Designing Better Incentives
We live in a world largely determined by incentives, and yet designing the right kind of incentive for an effective outcome can be tricky. To get it right, goals and priorities need to be taken into account along with respect for bringing about the common good.
All too often, too little thought has gone into incentive design, leading to situations that not only may not bring about the desired effect but also may cause significant harm.
Spending some time wisely to design better incentives is essential if we are going to create a better world.
Strategies to Incentivize Positive Behavior
It’s essential to use strategies that focus on cooperation, the common good, and respect if we want to create the right incentives. Communication is also vital to encourage positive behavior and ensure people have clarity over what is expected, desired, or rewarded.
Constructive incentives should promote collaboration between individuals and boost performance. Rewards such as recognition and rewards for contributions can be highly effective in driving people towards a shared goal of mutual benefit.
All these strategies are important to remember when aiming to incentivize positive behavior over the long term.
Examples of Successful Incentive Structures
What can’t be argued is their importance in determining the world we live in. Examples of successful incentive structures can be found all over.
Take, for instance, the schemes implemented by businesses and countries alike offering tax relief or reduced interest rates on loans to developing local economies – often leading to dramatic transformations in entire communities and nations.
Loyalty programs in retail have been a staple of many stores for decades now. The incentives created have been seen time and time again to generate more brand engagement, more sales, and ultimately more success for those brands.
Carbon taxes are direct economic disincentives for activities that produce greenhouse gases, such as burning fossil fuels. Placing a monetary cost on these activities encourages companies and individuals to reduce their emissions and invest in more sustainable practices. For example, in the UK, the government has introduced a carbon tax that places a cost on the burning of fossil fuels for electricity production. This means that companies have to pay for each tonne of carbon dioxide emitted and encourages them to seek out alternative sources of energy such as renewable energy.
Creating a Better World with Incentives
Incentive structures are powerful drivers that create real change – understanding them can truly open up a different window into how we view the world and act within it.
Whether it’s at the individual, economic, or political level, it is evident that designing better incentives leads to improved outcomes for everybody involved.
With this in mind, it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest news, research, and advancements related to incentivization structures. Sign up for our newsletter so you can quickly learn about the newest incentive strategies and how they could potentially benefit you or your organization!
Incentives ultimately determine who succeeds – be sure that you make the most of yours.