The Alternative
Nick Romeo on how to build a just economy
TLDR: In The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy, Nick Romeo explores how people are “reshaping economies around the world to reflect ethical and social values.” He’s also making the rounds with podcasts, webinars, and articles.
The Founders Knew It: I particularly enjoyed Romeo’s article “The Founders Knew It: A Country or a Company Owned by Its People Is Best,” in which he points out that people thinking hard about ownership—John Locke, the American founders, and even the 19th century industrialists—have all understood the value of widely distributed ownership. One quote that jumped out at me about one of today’s giant companies:
[The US economy would] look very different if major companies had even modest levels of employee ownership. If Amazon’s employees in 2018 had owned as much of their employer’s stock as Sears department store employees did in the 1950s, each Amazon worker [half a million of them] would have owned shares worth $381,000.12.
Go Deeper:
A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted a paper and podcast by Chris Mackin, a veteran author of employee ownership. Mackin highlighted American Founders’ interest in an industrial republic as a corollary to a political republic.
The introduction to Joseph Blasi’s The Citizen’s Share includes a wonderful story about cooperatives in early America.
Romeo’s book:
