The Best Way To Eradicate Poverty: Welfare Not Jobs

The Census released its income, poverty, and health insurance data last week (ASEC, SPM). Among other things, the data allows us to see who was in poverty and therefore gives us good insights about how to eradicate poverty. In this post, I detail what I think these insights are using my own ... Read more

Historic Federal Legislation Embeds Support For Employee-Ownership Within The SBA

Please join us in celebrating the first legislation in support of employee ownership in over two decades, and the first to explicitly name worker cooperatives as a priority for the SBA. This is a huge step forward for worker cooperatives, and we are proud to have ... Read more

Prison Labor Is Slave Labor, And We Should Get Rid Of It

Incarcerated workers — who often make less than $1 an hour producing profits for big companies — are on strike across the country. As wildfires rage across California, some of the people risking their lives to fight them are paid only a few dollars a day. They’re part of a 2.3 ... Read more

The Aftershocks Of The Economic Collapse Are Still Being Felt

There has been a spate of articles recently on the ten year anniversary of the financial collapse. We wrote about this anniversary two weeks ago, describing the cause of the collapse and the reasons why we are still at risk for another one. Now, we look at how the aftermath of the ... Read more

Are Media Coops The Business Model Of The Future?

As an early example of a publication prepared to share ownership with dedicated readers, New Internationalist serves as an experiment in a new models of financing media. Yet New Internationalist is not your typical magazine. It has an unusually engaged subscriber-base and a mission to draw ... Read more

The Crisis Of Global Capitalism Never Really Ended

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the once-mighty US investment bank whose dramatic bankruptcy on September 15, 2008 unleashed the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. At this point, it is still far too early to tell whether ... Read more

U.S. Utility Solar Contracts ‘Exploded’ In 2018 Despite Tariffs: Report

(Reuters) – Procurement of solar energy by U.S. utilities “exploded” in the first half of 2018, prompting a prominent research group to boost its five-year installation forecast on Thursday despite the Trump administration’s steep tariffs on imported panels. A record 8.5 ... Read more

4 Reasons Why Los Angeles’ Upcoming Public Banking Ballot Initiative Is A Huge Deal

On November 6th, the citizens of Los Angeles will have a chance to decide if their city should pave the path towards creating the first municipal public bank in the country. No doubt, a ‘yes’ vote for Charter Amendment B will be significant for the city, as it ... Read more

Oakland Takes Step Toward Public Bank With Unanimous Committee Vote

The City of Oakland’s Finance Committee accepted the Public Bank Feasibility Study and staff report, and recommended placing it on the full City Council’s agenda so that all Councilors may have an opportunity to discuss the report and options. Watch as banking ... Read more

Co-op Values In The Modern World

It may seem like the soft side of business, but values are at the heart of every example of co-operative excellence – and core to the advisory work of Co-operatives UK. The International Co-operative Alliance has codified 10 values – six co-operative and four ethical. The co-operative values – self-help, ... Read more