Draft Legislation on Development and Adoption of an Intangible Assets Metric System

In my opinion, more could be done to effect meaningful and effective health care reform with legislation like that proposed below, which has fewer than 3,800 words, than will ever be possible with the 2,074 pages in Congress’s current health care reform bill. What’s more, creating the infrastructure for human, social, and natural capital markets in this way would not only cost a tiny fraction of the projected $847 billion bill being debated, it would be an investment that would pay returns many times larger than the initial investment. See previous posts in this blog for more info on how and why this is so.

The draft legislation below is adapted from The Metric Conversion Act (Title 15 U.S.C. Chapter6 §(204) 205a – 205k). The viability of a metric system for human, social, and natural capital is indicated by the realized state of scientific rigor in the measurement of human, social, and natural capital (Fisher, 2009b). The need for such a system is indicated by the current crisis’s pointed economic demands that all forms of capital be unified within a common econometric and financial framework (Fisher, 2009a). It is equally demanded by the moral and philosophical requirements of fair play and meaningfulness (Fisher, 2004). The day is fast approaching when a metric system for intangible assets will be recognized as the urgent need that it is (Fisher, 2009c).

At some point in the near future, it can be expected that a table showing how to interpret the units of the Intangible Assets Metric System will be published in the Federal Register, just as the International System units have been.

For those unfamiliar with the state of the art in measurement, these may seem like wildly unrealistic goals. Those wondering how a reasonable person might arrive at such opinions are urged to consult other posts in this blog, and the references cited in them. The advantages of an intangible assets metric system for sustainable and socially responsible economic policies and practices are nothing short of profound. As Georg Rasch (1980, p. xx) said in reference to the stringent demands of his measurement models, “this is a huge challenge, but once the problem has been formulated it does seem possible to meet it.” We are less likely to attain goals that we do not actively formulate. In the spirit of John Dewey’s student, Chiang Mon-Lin, what we need are “wild hypotheses and careful tests.” There is no wilder idea with greater potential impact for redefining profit as the reduction of waste, and for thereby mitigating human suffering, sociopolitical discontent, and environmental degradation.

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2004, October). Meaning and method in the social sciences. Human Studies: A Journal for Philosophy and the Social Sciences, 27(4), 429-54.

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2009a). Bringing human, social, and natural capital to life: Practical consequences and opportunities. In M. Wilson, K. Draney, N. Brown, B. Duckor (Eds.), Advances in Rasch Measurement, Vol. Two (p. in press). Maple Grove, MN: JAM Press.

Fisher, W. P., Jr. (2009b, November). Invariance and traceability for measures of human, social, and natural capital: Theory and application. Measurement (Elsevier), 42(9), 1278-1287.

Fisher, W. P. J. (2009c). NIST Critical national need idea White Paper: Metrological infrastructure for human, social, and natural capital (Tech. Rep.). New Orleans: LivingCapitalMetrics.com.

Rasch, G. (1980). Probabilistic models for some intelligence and attainment tests (Reprint, with Foreword and Afterword by B. D. Wright, Chicago: University of Chicago Press). Copenhagen, Denmark: Danmarks Paedogogiske Institut.

Title xx U.S.C. Chapter x §(100) 101a – 101k
METRIC SYSTEM FOR INTANGIBLE ASSETS DEVELOPMENT LAW
(Pub. L. 10-xxx, §x, Intangible Assets Metrics Development Act, July 25, 2010)

§ 100. New metric system development authorized. – A new national effort is hereby initiated throughout the United States of America focusing on building and realizing the benefits of a metric system for the intangible assets known as human, social, and natural capital.

§ 101a. Congressional statement of findings. – The Congress finds as follows:

(1) The United States was an original signatory party to the 1875 Treaty of the Meter (20 Stat. 709), which established the General Conference of Weights and Measures, the International Committee of Weights and Measures and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

(2) The use of metric measurement standards in the United States was authorized by law in 1866; with the Metric Conversion Act of 1975 this Nation established a national policy of committing itself and taking steps to facilitate conversion to the metric system.

(3) World trade is dependent on the metric system of measurement; continuing trends toward globalization demand expansion of the metric system to include vital economic resources shown scientifically measurable in research conducted over the last 80 years.

(4) Industries and consumers in the United States are often at competitive disadvantages when dealing in domestic and international markets because no existing systems for measuring intangible assets (human, social, and natural capital) are expressed in standardized, universally uniform metrics. The end result is that education, health care, human resource, and other markets are unable to reward quality; supply and demand are unmatched, consumers make decisions with no or insufficient information; and quality cannot be systematically improved.

(5) The inherent simplicity of the metric system of measurement and standardization of weights and measures has led to major cost savings in certain industries which have converted to that system; similar savings are expected to follow from the development and implementation of a metric system for intangible assets.

(6) The Federal Government has a responsibility to develop procedures and techniques to assist industry, especially small business, as it voluntarily seeks to adopt a new metric system of measurement for intangible assets that have always required management but which have not yet been uniformly and systematically measured.

(7) A new metric system of measurement for human, social, and natural capital can provide substantial advantages to the Federal Government in its own operations.

§ 101b. Declaration of policy. – It is therefore the declared policy of the United States-

(1) to support the development and implementation of a new metric system of intangibles assets measurement as the preferred system of weights and measures for United States trade and commerce involving human, social, and natural capital;

(2) to require that each Federal agency,by a date certain and to the extent economically feasible by the end of the fiscal year 2011, use the new metric system of intangibles measurement in its procurements, grants, and other business-related activities, except to the extent that such use is impractical or is likely to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to United States firms, such as when foreign competitors are producing competing products in non-metric units; and

(3) to seek out ways to increase understanding of the new metric system of intangibles measurement through educational information and guidance and in Government publications.

§ 101c. Definitions

As used in this subchapter, the term-

(1) ‘Board’ means the United States Intangible Assets Metrics Board, established under section 101d of this Title;

(2) ‘engineering standard’ means a standard which prescribes (A) a concise set of conditions and requirements that must be satisfied by a material, product, process, procedure, convention, or test method; and (B) the physical, functional, performance and/or conformance characteristics thereof;

(3) ‘international standard or recommendation’ means an engineering standard or recommendation which is (A) formulated and promulgated by an international organization and (B) recommended for adoption by individual nations as a national standard;

(4) ‘metric system of measurement’ means the International System of Units as established by the General Conference of Weights and Measures in 1960 and as interpreted or modified for the United States by the Secretary of Commerce;

(5) ‘full and open competition’ has the same meaning as defined in section 403 of title 41;

(6) ‘total installed price’ means the price of purchasing a product or material, trimming or otherwise altering some or all of that product or material, if necessary to fit with other building components,and then installing that product or material into a Federal facility;

(7) ‘hard-metric’ means measurement, design, and manufacture using the metric system of measurement, but does not include measurement,design, and manufacture using English system measurement units which are subsequently reexpressed in the metric system of measurement;

(8) ‘cost or pricing data or price analysis’ has the meaning given such terms in section 254b of title 41; and

(9) ‘Federal facility’ means any public building (as defined under section 612 of title 40) and shall include any Federal building or construction project: (A) on lands in the public domain;(B) on lands used in connection with Federal programs for agriculture research, recreation, and conservation programs; (C) on or used  in connection with river, harbor, flood control, reclamation, or power projects; (D) on or used in connection with housing and residential projects; (E) on military installations (including any fort, camp,post, naval training station, airfield, proving ground, military supply depot, military school, any similar facility of the Department of Defense); (F) on installations of the Department of Veterans Affairs used for hospital or domiciliary purposes; or (G) on lands used in connection with Federal prisons, but does not include (i)any Federal building or construction project the exclusion of which the President deems to be justified in the public interest, or (ii) any construction project or building owned or controlled by a State government, local government, Indian tribe, or any private entity.

§101d. United States Intangible Assets Metrics Board

(a) Establishment. – There is established, in accordance with this section, an independent instrumentality to be known as a United States Intangible Assets Metrics Board.

(b) Membership; Chairman; appointment of members; term of office;vacancies. – The Board shall consist of 17 individuals, as follows:

(1) the Chairman, a qualified individual who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate;

(2) seventeen members who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, on the following basis-

(A) one to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by psychometricians and organizations representative of psychometric interests;

(B) one to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by social scientists, the scientific and technical community, and organizations representative of social scientists and technicians;

(C) one to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by environmental scientists, the scientific and technical community, and organizations representative of environmental scientists and technicians;

(D) one to be selected from a list of qualified individuals recommended by the National Association of Manufacturers or its successor;

(E) one to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by the United States Chamber of Commerce, or its successor, retailers,and other commercial organizations;

(F) two to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations or its successor, who are representative of workers directly affected by human capital metrics for health, skills, motivations, and productivity, and by other organizations representing labor;

(G) one to be selected from a list of qualified individuals recommended by the National Governors Conference, the National Council of State Legislatures, and organizations representative of State and local government;

(H) two to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by organizations representative of small business;

(I) one to be selected from lists of qualified individuals representative of the human resource management industry;

(J) one to be selected from a list of qualified individuals recommended by the National Conference on Weights and Measures and standards making organizations;

(K) one to be selected from lists of qualified individuals recommended by educators, the educational community, and organizations representative of educational interests; and

(L) four at-large members to represent consumers and other interests deemed suitable by the President and who shall be qualified individuals.

As used in this subsection, each ‘list’ shall include the names of at least three individuals for each applicable vacancy. The terms of office of the members of the Board first taking office shall expire as designated by the President at the time of nomination; five at the end of the second year; five at the end of the fourth year;and six at the end of the sixth year. The term of office of the Chairman of such Board shall be six years. Members, including the Chairman, may be appointed to an additional term of six years, in the same manner as the original appointment. Successors to members of such Board shall be appointed in the same manner as the original members and shall have terms of office expiring six years from the date of expiration of the terms for which their predecessors were appointed. Any individual appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of any term of office shall be appointed for the remainder of that term. Beginning 45 days after the date of incorporation of the Board, six members of such Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any function of the Board.

(c) Compulsory powers. – Unless otherwise provided by the Congress, the Board shall have no compulsory powers.

(d) Termination. – The Board shall cease to exist when the Congress, by law, determines that its mission has been accomplished.

§101e. – Functions and powers of Board. – It shall be the function of the Board to devise and carry out a broad program of planning, coordination, and public education, consistent with other national policy and interests, with the aim of implementing the policy set forth in this subchapter. In carrying out this program,the Board shall-

(1) consult with and take into account the interests, views, and costs relevant to the inefficiencies that have long plagued the management of unmeasured forms of capital in United States commerce and industry, including small business; science; engineering; labor; education; consumers; government agencies at the Federal, State, and local level; nationally recognized standards developing and coordinating organizations; intangibles metrics development, planning and coordinating groups; and such other individuals or groups as are considered appropriate by the Board to the carrying out of the purposes of this subchapter. The Board shall take into account activities underway in the private and public sectors, so as not to duplicate unnecessarily such activities;

(2) provide for appropriate procedures whereby various groups,under the auspices of the Board, may formulate, and recommend or suggest, to the Board specific programs for coordinating intangibles metrics development in each industry and segment thereof and specific dimensions and configurations in the new metric system and in other measurements for general use. Such programs, dimensions, and configurations shall be consistent with (A) the needs, interests, and capabilities of manufacturers (large and small), suppliers, labor, consumers, educators,and other interested groups, and (B) the national interest;

(3) publicize, in an appropriate manner, proposed programs and provide an opportunity for interested groups or individuals to submit comments on such programs. At the request of interested parties, the Board, in its discretion, may hold hearings with regard to such programs. Such comments and hearings may be considered by the Board;

(4) encourage activities of standardization organizations to develop or revise, as rapidly as practicable, policy and IT standards based on the new intangibles metrics, and to take advantage of opportunities to promote (A) rationalization or simplification of relationships,(B) improvements of design, (C) reduction of size variations, (D) increases in economy, and (E) where feasible, the efficient use of energy and the conservation of natural resources;

(5) encourage the retention, in the new metric language of human, social, and natural capital standards, of those United States policy and IT designs, practices, and conventions that are internationally accepted or that embody superior technology;

(6) consult and cooperate with foreign governments, and intergovernmental organizations, in collaboration with the Department of State, and, through appropriate member bodies, with private international organizations, which are or become concerned with the encouragement and coordination of increased use of intangible assets metrics measurement units or policy and IT standards based on such units, or both. Such consultation shall include efforts, where appropriate, to gain international recognition for intangible assets metrics standards proposed by the United States;

(7) assist the public through information and education programs, to become familiar with the meaning and applicability of metric terms and measures in daily life. Such programs shall include –

(A) public information programs conducted by the Board, through the use of newspapers, magazines, radio, television, the Internet, social networking, and other media, and through talks before appropriate citizens’ groups, and trade and public organizations;

(B) counseling and consultation by the Secretary of Education; the Secretary of Labor; the Administrator of the Small Business Administration; and the Director of the National Science Foundation, with educational associations, State and local educational agencies, labor education committees, apprentice training committees, and other interested groups, in order to assure (i) that the new intangible assets metric system of measurement is included in the curriculum of the Nation’s educational institutions, and (ii) that teachers and other appropriate personnel are properly trained to teach the intangible assets metric system of measurement;

(C) consultation by the Secretary of Commerce with the National Conference of Weights and Measures in order to assure that State and local weights and measures officials are (i) appropriately involved in intangible assets metric development and adoption activities and (ii) assisted in their efforts to bring about timely amendments to weights and measures laws; and

(D) such other public information activities, by any Federal agency in support of this subchapter, as relate to the mission of suchagency;

(8) collect, analyze, and publish information about the extent of usage of intangible assets metric measurements; evaluate the costs and benefits of that usage; and make efforts to minimize any adverse effects resulting from increasing intangible assets metric usage;

(9) conduct research, including appropriate surveys; publish the results of such research; and recommend to the Congress and to the President such action as may be appropriate to deal with any unresolved problems, issues, and questions associated with intangible assets metric development, adoption, or usage, such problems, issues, and questions may include, but are not limited to, the impact on different occupations and industries, possible increased costs to consumers, the impact on society and the economy, effects on small business, the impact on the international trade position of the United States, the appropriateness of and methods for using procurement by the Federal Government as a means to effect development and adoption of the intangible assets metric system, the proper conversion or transition period in particular sectors of society, and consequences for national defense;

(10) submit annually to the Congress and to the President a report on its activities. Each such report shall include a status report on the development and adoption process as well as projections for continued progress in that process. Such report may include recommendations covering any legislation or executive action needed to implement the programs of development and adoption accepted by the Board. The Board may also submit such other reports and recommendations as it deems necessary;and

(11) submit to the President, not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Act making appropriations for carrying out this subchapter, a report on the need to provide an effective structural mechanism for adopting intangible assets metric units in statutes, regulations, and other laws at all levels of government, on a coordinated and timely basis, in response to voluntary programs adopted and implemented by various sectors of society under the auspices and with the approval of the Board. If the Board determines that such a need exists, such report shall include recommendations as to appropriate and effective means for establishing and implementing such a mechanism.

§101f. – Duties of Board. – In carrying out its duties under this subchapter, the Board may –

(1) establish an Executive Committee, and such other committees as it deems desirable;

(2) establish such committees and advisory panels as it deems necessary to work with the various sectors of the Nation’s economy and with Federal and State governmental agencies in the development and implementation of detailed development and adoption plans for those sectors. The Board may reimburse,to the extent authorized by law, the members of such committees;

(3) conduct hearings at such times and places as it deems appropriate;

(4) enter into contracts, in accordance with the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended (40 U.S.C. 471et seq.), with Federal or State agencies, private firms, institutions, and individuals for the conduct of research or surveys, the preparation of reports, and other activities necessary to the discharge of its duties;

(5) delegate to the Executive Director such authority as it deems advisable; and

(6) perform such other acts as may be necessary to carry out the duties prescribed by this subchapter.

§101g. – Gifts, donations and bequests to Board

(a) Authorization; deposit into Treasury and disbursement. – The Board may accept, hold, administer, and utilize gifts, donations,and bequests of property, both real and personal, and personal services, for the purpose of aiding or facilitating the work of the Board. Gifts and bequests of money, and the proceeds from the sale of any other property received as gifts or requests, shall be deposited in the Treasury in a separate fund and shall be disbursed upon order of the Board.

(b) Federal income, estate, and gift taxation of property. – For purpose of Federal income, estate, and gift taxation, property accepted under subsection (a) of this section shall be considered as a gift or bequest to or for the use of the United States.

(c) Investment of moneys; disbursement of accrued income. – Upon the request of the Board, the Secretary of the Treasury may invest and reinvest, in securities of the United States, any moneys contained in the fund authorized in subsection (a) of this section. Income accruing from such securities, and from any other property acceptedto the credit of such fund, shall be dispersed upon the order ofthe Board.

(d) Reversion to Treasury of unexpended funds. – Funds not expended by the Board as of the date when it ceases to exist, in accordance with section 105d(d) of this title, shall revert to the Treasury of the United States as of such date.

§101h. – Compensation of Board members; travel expenses.- Members of the Board who are not in the regular full-time employ of the United States shall, while attending meetings or conferences of the Board or while otherwise engaged in the business of the Board, be entitled to receive compensation at a rate not to exceed the daily rate currently being paid grade 18 of the General Schedule (under section 5332 of title 5), including travel time. While so serving, on the business of the Board away from their homes or regular places of business, members of the Board may be allowed travel expenses,including per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by section5703 of title 5, for persons employed intermittently in the Government service. Payments under this section shall not render members of the Board employees or of the United States for any purpose. Members of the Board who are in the employ of the United States shall be entitled to travel expenses when traveling on the business of the Board.

§101i. – Personnel

(a) Executive Director; appointment; tenure; duties. – The Board shall appoint a qualified individual to serve as the Executive Director of the Board at the pleasure of the Board. The Executive Director, subject to the direction of the Board, shall be responsible to the Board and shall carry out the intangible assets metric development and adoption program, pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter and the policies established by the Board.

(b) Executive Director; salary. – The Executive Director of the Board shall serve full time and be subject to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5. The annual salary of the Executive Director shall not exceed level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of such title.

(c) Staff personnel; appointment and compensation. – The Board may appoint and fix the compensation of such staff personnel as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter in accordance with the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of title 5.

(d) Experts and consultants; employment and compensation; annual review of contracts. – The Board may (1) employ experts and consultants or organizations thereof, as authorized by section 3109 of title5; (2) compensate individuals so employed at rates not in excess of the rate currently being paid grade 18 of the General Schedule under section 5332 of such title, including travel time; and (3) may allow such individuals, while away from their homes or regular places of business, travel expenses (including per diem in lieu of subsistence) as authorized by section 5703 of such title 5 for persons in the Government service employed intermittently: Provided, however, that contracts for such temporary employment may be renewed annually.

§101j. – Financial and administrative services; sourceand reimbursement. – Financial and administrative services, including those related to budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, personnel, and procurement, and such other staff services as maybe needed by the Board, may be obtained by the Board from the Secretary of Commerce or other appropriate sources in the Federal Government. Payment for such services shall be made by the Board, in advance or by reimbursement, from funds of the Board in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the Chairman of the Board and by the source of the services being rendered.

§101k. – Authorization of appropriations; availability.- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subchapter. Appropriations to carry out the provisions of this subchapter may remain available for obligation and expenditure for such period or periods as maybe specified in the Acts making such appropriations.

LivingCapitalMetrics Blog by William P. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at livingcapitalmetrics.wordpress.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.livingcapitalmetrics.com.

Advertisement

Tags: amounts, Business, capitalism, commerce, economic recovery, health care, infrastructure, Innovation, intangible assets metric system, law, legal metrology, legislation, market efficiency, measurement, metric system, metrics, metrology, performance metrics, reinventing capitalism, rule of law, social capital, standards