What the US Can Learn From Africa’s Booming Economy
Seven out of the ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa. Behind that is a surge in healthy young people and an emphasis on local markets.
Economy
It’s a “Story Problem”: What’s Behind Our Messed-Up Economy
The peoples of earlier times prospered from the guidance of simple stories that offered answers to their deepest questions. We need those now more than ever.
Like Shopping at Local Businesses? Now You Can Invest in Them, Too
A newly formed company based in Seattle makes it easy to put your money to work in the local economy.
Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young: A New Economy for Present Times
Laura Flanders interviews the directors of Shift Change, a film about the cooperative business movement.
What the Boston Tea Party Can Teach Us About Countering Corporate Power
Before there was Citizens United, a modern Tea Party movement, or national momentum to ban corporate personhood, this 2003 article from the YES! archives showed that resistance to corporate power is just as patriotic as Boston’s original Tea Party.
A Caring Economy Requires Building Bridges—Not Burning Them
Traditional organizing makes opponents into “enemies,” but a new crop of activists is using love and empathy to create new alliances and possibilities.
Should There Be a Maximum Wage?
Countries like Egypt and Switzerland have placed regulations on how much executives can earn. Here’s why the U.S. should consider doing the same.
Better than Cyber Utopia: How the Internet Helped Us Create the Sharing Economy
Back in the ’90s, people thought the Internet was going to open up a zone of perfect cyber-freedom. It didn’t work out that way. But the Internet’s real significance may be found elsewhere: in a growing sector of the economy based around peer-to-peer sharing networks.
A New Deal for Appalachia’s Forests: Growing Biofuels?
The mine-ravaged communities of Eastern Kentucky have been increasingly abandoned by the coal economy. Could growing biofuels jump-start a new local jobs market—and renew the land in the process?
Worker-Owned Window Factory Opens for Business
When the company known as Republic Windows and Doors closed its Chicago factory, the workers raised the money to buy back the company themselves. The worker-owned cooperative they formed opens today.
Why the TransPacific Partnership is a Scary Big (Trade) Deal
A super-sized NAFTA, the TPP gives foreign corporations privileges that can override domestic laws on environmental health and citizens’ rights. Here’s why we shouldn’t let it pass without a fight.
The Bright Side of the Money Crisis
Is this “the most exciting time to be alive in human history”? The economists and scientists interviewed in this film think so, and the reasons are all about the chance to create a more fair and sustainable global economy.
Not Your Father’s Union Movement: NYC’s Young Workers Committee
The Young Workers Committee of New York’s transit union was out on the streets in a vibrant march. This video shows the group rallying, taking over an official’s office, and using the Occupy-style “people’s mic.”
From Housing to Health Care, 7 Co-ops That Are Changing Our Economy
How manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, and others are doing business the cooperative way.
Offshore Tax Havens Democratized on “Art Hack” Website
Today is April 15, and that means that taxes are due ... at least for most of us. Artist and hacker Paolo Cirio tracked down authors and activists who study tax havens and asked them about the details.
Labor Dept. Deputy: It’s Time to Raise the Minimum Wage
Before joining the Department of Labor, Mary Beth Maxwell was a top organizer for the workers’ rights organization Jobs With Justice. Here, she speaks with Amy Dean about the lives of workers who make minimum wage and why the time has come to raise it.
Occupy Sandy Funds Growth of Worker-Owned Co-Ops
Could the seaside neighborhoods struck by Hurricane Sandy be the next big incubator for worker-owned companies?
To Build a Community Economy, Start With Solidarity
How residents who can’t afford to buy in still get the benefits of co-op work and housing.
Empowered by the Past: Red State Co-ops Go Green
A century ago, cooperatives electrified the poorest counties in the nation. Today, can they lead the way to a smarter, cleaner grid?
Arab Spring Breakers: 50,000 Gather in Tunisia to Plan People-Powered Economy
Tens of thousands of people from around the world gathered in Tunisia last week to talk about creating a fairer world. Here are some of the hottest topics from the panels in Tunis.
Don’t Like Your Health Insurance? Make Your Own
The Affordable Care Act hopes to drive expansion of health care co-ops.
Credit Unions Put Your Money to Work—Right Where You Live
What if your bank’s first priority was to do good? Vancouver’s Vancity leads the way in putting dollars back into the community.
6 Ways to Fuel the Cooperative Takeover
From now on, the global mantra for filling market gaps is going to be, “There’s a co-op for that.” But co-ops need customers, money, and training. How do we shift from business as usual to the work of cooperation?
New Film Calls Worker-Owned Cooperatives “Next American Revolution”
Gar Alperovitz’s film points to worker-owned cooperatives as a growing alternative to traditional capitalism and socialism.
Video Demonstrates “Mind-Blowing” U.S. Wealth Inequality
Statistics about how much wealth is possessed by different groups of people can be hard to wrap your mind around. This video visualizes the figures in a few different ways—and the picture isn’t pretty.
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