7 Principles for Building a Fairer Economy

I came across this article by Ellie Anzilotti in Fast Company (link below to full article), in which she explicates the concepts in a new book called The Making of a Democratic Economy: How to Build Prosperity for the Many, Not the Few. Authors Ted Howard and Marjorie Kelly spell out seven principles for creating a fairer and more sustainable economy that could help pull the U.S. out of the “extractive economy” that exists today.

Those values are community, inclusion, place, good work, sustainability, democratic ownership, and ethical finance.

Eillie draws attention to several examples, about which the authors write, “At every step, the vision and building of the regenerative community arose from and within many circles of the community.” The principles aim to create ways for wealth to remain in the community, instead of being pulled outward.

Eillie continues, “One powerful example, known as the “Cleveland model,” involves the mutual support of anchor institutions and the Evergreen Cooperatives to show how prioritizing local community connections can create local wealth."

The projects in The Making of a Democratic Economy, Kelly and Howard note, all have the potential to scale and spark replicas across the country or even the world. In collecting them all in this book, the authors hope to convey that as individually or circumstantially motivated as they may be, they all represent a shift away from a mainstream economy that’s no longer working for the majority of people, and the potential to design thoughtful alternatives.”

If this piques your curiosity, link below to the text of the complete article.

Eillie Anzilotti is an assistant editor for Fast Company