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Is Obama Playing Right Into the Hands of America’s Elite With a Trade Pact That Could Exacerbate Problems in Impoverished Communities?

Is Obama Playing Right Into the Hands of America’s Elite With a Trade Pact That Could Exacerbate Problems in Impoverished Communities?
Ever since the beginning of his presidency, Barack Obama assured voters that middle class economics were one of the key pillars to his political platform. So now the public has been left scratching its head in confusion as the president’s controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) bill seems to be blatantly pandering to America’s wealthy and elite. By Taylor Gordon in AtlantaBlackStar Of all the national demonstrations that have erupted ... Read more

Life in a ‘Degrowth’ Economy and Why You might Actually Enjoy It

Life in a ‘Degrowth’ Economy and Why You might Actually Enjoy It
What does genuine economic progress look like? The orthodox answer is that a bigger economy is always better, but this idea is increasingly strained by the knowledge that, on a finite planet, the economy can’t grow for ever. What is a steady-state economy? Why it is it desirable or necessary? And what would it be like to live in? By Samuel Alexander in TheConversation.com (October, 2014) The global predicament We used to live on a planet ... Read more

Argument For Energy Nationalization

Argument For Energy Nationalization
The Bayway refinery, the site of extensive environmental damage, and the subject of a legal battle between Exxon and the state, in Linden, New Jersey, February 27, 2015. A long-fought legal battle to recover $8.9 billion in damages from Exxon Mobil for the contamination and loss of use of more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, marshes, meadows and waters in New Jersey has been quietly settled by the state for around $250 million. (Angel ... Read more

Revolt Against Student Loans Growing

Revolt Against Student Loans Growing
Students Saying ‘No’ To Debt Repayment Remember those 15 people who refused to repay their federal student loans? Their “debt strike” has picked up 85 more disgruntled borrowers willing to jeopardize their financial future to pressure the government into forgiving their student loans. By Danielle Douglas-Gabrielle in the Washington Post. Above photo from Flickr user thisisbossi. And the government is starting to listen. The Consumer ... Read more

Chicago Opening Door To Privatizing Half its Public Housing

Chicago Opening Door To Privatizing Half its Public Housing
Chicago, long a pioneer of privatization, is poised to embark on a sweeping experiment with the city’s public-housing stock. The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) plans to court private investment in as much as half of its public-housing units through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), a new federal program billed as a way to “revitalize” housing for the poor and address a $26 billion backlog in needed repairs. By Rebecca Burns of ... Read more

Co-ops Enable Low-Income Women To Work As Owners

Co-ops Enable Low-Income Women To Work As Owners
At Cooperative Home Care Associates, in their state of the art training facilities, these workers in training are finding each other’s pulses with the help of their training instructor (seen to the right). (Photo: Jordanna Rosen) By Eleanor J. Bader in TruthOut Co-ops not only give low-income and immigrant women a way to enter an often unwelcoming – and in some cases, hostile – economy, but also give them a way to exert some control ... Read more

Announcing the Next System Project

Announcing the Next System Project
For the past two years, The Democracy Collaborative has been developing and incubating a new initiative that complements our community wealth building work. We call this The Next System Project, and today we launch it nationwide under the leadership of co-chairs political-economist and Democracy Collaborative co-founder Gar Alperovitz and Democracy Collaborative Senior Fellow and prominent environmentalist Gus Speth. The Next System Project ... Read more

GEO’s ADWC 3 Conference 2015

GEO’s ADWC 3 Conference 2015
July 10, 2015 in Worcester, MA Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO) is convening a one-day conference that will focus on this emergence. It will take place at Worcester State University (WSU) in Worcester, MA. Read more