Towards a New Economics

MONDRAGON: A BETTER WAY TO GO TO WORK?
What has 120 different companies, 42,000 worker-owners, 43 schools, one college, does more than 4.8 billion dollars of business annually in manufacturing, services, retail and wholesale distribution, administers more than $5 billion in financial assets, and has a business plan that is animated by the principles of the social doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church?

Outline of the Seikatsu Club Consumers' Co-operative Union
There are approximately 600 co-operatives with 21,040,000 members in Japan (out of a total population of 127,000,000). From the Hokkaido in the north to Aichi Prefecture in the south, the Seikatsu Club Consumers' Co-operative Union, (hereafter SC or SCCU) which consists of an association of 22 consumer co-operatives active in 15 administrative divisions (prefectures) of Japan, has altogether 250,000 members, most of whom are women. In addition, there are 8 associated companies such as a milk factory.

Resource Dependency: The Spatial Origins of British Columbia¹s Economic Base
The 2001 Census confirms that the population of British Columbia is predominantly metropolitan, with 1,986,965 people (51% of BC's population) living in the Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area and 311,902 (8%) living in the Victoria CMA, and that the metropolitan population is increasing faster than the rest of the province.

The Summit Bell Tolls for Business as Usual
The genie is out of the bottle. The Johannesburg Summit let it out and it cannot be stuffed back again. The world was told how serious the poverty and ecological situation is, and who is keeping it that way. The media at least in South Africa and Europe reported the opposition to the status quo at least as much as they reported the governments who keep it in place. That is a first. All other international conferences, dominated as always by the G8, have been reported as if the mainstream line is obviously broadly correct and the opposition something of a rabble.

WHAT EVERYBODY WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT MONEY
"Despite massive public awareness campaigns and educational efforts, the environment continues to deteriorate from year to year, communities and families fragment, ethnic conflict, poverty, crime and violence continue to grow, and democracy slips away Economic globalisation is having a disastrous impact-socially, politically and environmentally. But globalisation is far from a natural process: it is occurring because governments are actively promoting it and subsidising the framework necessary to support it. What is needed now is fundamental shift in direction towards economic localisation.

Nasdaq Takes New Actions on Corporate Governance Reform
New York, NY< The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (Nasdaq®) announced that its Board of Directors yesterday approved more than 25 new corporate governance reform proposals designed to increase accountability and transparency for the benefit of investors. Pending approval by the NASD board, they will be forwarded to the SEC for final approval.

Population aging: a worldwide problem
Care of the elderly is one of the main problems of modern society. Indeed, the increase in average life expectancy more obvious in developed economies and the process of urbanization which is changing the structure of family units throughout the planet, have, on one hand, determined a progressive increase in the percentage of elderly people making up the world population and, on the other, given rise to elderly solitude in cities. The extent and rapidity of the process of urbanization and its impact on the living conditions of the elderly need no comment or explanation: the results are visible throughout the planet.

WHY COOPERATIVES MAKE GOOD SENSE?

Cooperatives make good sense because usually they are owned by the consumers they serve and because the management of cooperatives are elected by their members and therefore must serve the best interests of those consumers and the communities wherein those consumers reside. This is distinct from corporations where management (which might be located in a New York boardroom) is obligated to serve the best interests of the company and secondarily shareholders - to the exclusion of consumers and community interests.

TOWARDS A NEW ECONOMICS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA: PART ONE
It is long since time to begin to conceptualize alternative economic development models for British Columbia.
It is asserted that with very few exceptions, the current hegemonic model which overly relies on large scale corporate investments, international trade and export-led development, is unsustainable both financially, socially and environmentally, and furthermore, has been woefully inadequate in providing either community stability or reliable good paying jobs to the majority of BC residents.

TOWARDS A NEW ECONOMICS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA: PART TWO
It is asserted that for the state to attempt to induce BC's economic development by such actions as whole - scale privatization of the public sector, massive de-regulation and "results-based codes", minimization of the "rents" collected by the state from Crown resources, substantial corporate tax cuts, cutbacks to the rights and wages of workers, and perceived attacks upon First Nation peoples, the poor, seniors, women, students, etc. is an extremely risky and uncertain approach. An approach justifiably labeled "voodoo economics".

TOWARDS A NEW ECONOMICS FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA: PART THREE
It is asserted that for British Columbia, the "co-op" or "co-operative model" of development, while is thusfar underutilized, is the best institutional vehicle to bring about such an economic model of development.

The PCDF Living Economies Program
People the world over are awakening to the reality that a global suicide economy is unraveling the social fabric of human civilization and depleting the life support system of the planet. If there is to be a human future, humanity must make a conscious collective choice to live into being the culture and institutions of a planetary system life-serving living economies.

back to top

____________________________________________________________

Examining Old Economics and the Effects Thereof

THE WTO'S HIDDEN AGENDA
LONDON -- Three confidential documents from inside the World Trade Organization Secretariat and a group of captains of London finance, who call themselves the "British Invisibles," reveal the extraordinary secret entanglement of industry with government in designing European and American proposals for radical pro-business changes in WTO rules.

EYES-ONLY MEMOS SHOW WHO DONE IT
In Buenos Aires, the Paris of Latin America, police gunned down two dozen Argentines in December after they chose to face bullets rather than starvation. The nation's currency had crumbled and unemployment had shot up from a grim 16 percent to millions more than the collapsing government could measure. The economy had been murdered in cold blood.

HOW THE US SEIZED POWER IN BRAZIL
When US Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin was a little boy, he dreamed of becoming President - of Brazil. And now his dream has come true. Of course, in light of his Washington address and US nationality, Rubin won control of Brazil the only way he could - through a brilliant swindle.

WHO SHOT ARGENTINA?
THE FINGER PRINTS ON THE SMOKING GUN READ 'I.M.F.'
INSIDE CORPORATE AMERICA
And news this week in South America is that Argentina died, or at least its economy. One in six workers were unemployed even before the beginning of this grim austral winter. Millions more have lost work as industrial production, already down 25% for the year, fell into a coma induced by interest rates which, by one measure, have jumped to over 90% on dollar-denominated borrowings.

In the Public Interest - Auto Insurance in BC
As the BC government faces difficult decisions over the future of ICBC, it is important to consider why auto insurance was publicly provided in the first place and why it has remained that way for three decades and seven governments of various political stripes.

Quebec Credit Unions Defiant
Despite the ailing economy, Quebec's credit union system is apparently booming, and looking to expand.

Community Economic Development:
What it is and How to Make It Work For You
So, what's it about? If there is one point that socialist economist can never be challenged on is their view that necessity truly is the mother of innovation.

Ending Corporate Claims to Human Rights
Human rights secure our freedom to live fully and responsibly within life's community. We are finding, however, that as corporations have become increasingly successful in claiming these same rights for themselves, they have become increasingly assertive in denying them to individuals.

A Year of Contrasts: Courage, Sacrifice and Corporate Greed
As we reflect on the year 2001, our minds catapult to the World Trade Center in flames and hundreds of courageous firemen and police officers racing up stairs to try to save their trapped fellow citizens. Almost all of them gave their lives in this heroic effort.

The PCDF Living Economies Program
People the world over are awakening to the reality that a global suicide economy is unraveling the social fabric of human civilization and depleting the life support system of the planet. If there is to be a human future, humanity must make a conscious collective choice to live into being the culture and institutions of a planetary system life-serving living economies.

The Argument For Activism...Create or Die!
Humans either consume or create. Consumption provides the raw material for creation. However, when we consume far more than we create, we become bloated with junk in our heads and in our lives. Paradoxically, we feel a nagging emptiness that prompts more consuming. Our consuming behaviour becomes compulsive and ends up being a deadening addiction. The powerful elites who commodify everything from politics to religion to underarm deodorant watch with delight as their power increases and ours wanes.

back to top