The Alternative How to Build a Just Economy

<B><I>Winners Take All </I>meets<I> Nickel and Dimed</I> in this provocative debunking of accepted wisdom, providing the pathway to a sustainable, survivable economy. </B><BR/><BR/> Confronted by the terrifying trends of the early twenty-first century – widening inequality, environmental destruction, and the immiseration of millions of workers around the world – many economists and business leaders still preach dogmas that lack evidence and create political catastrophe: Private markets are always more efficient than public ones; investment capital flows efficiently to necessary projects; massive inequality is the unavoidable side effect of economic growth; people are selfish and will only behave well with the right incentives.<BR/>  <BR/> But a growing number of people – academic economists, business owners, policy entrepreneurs, and ordinary people – are rejecting these myths and reshaping economies around the world to reflect ethical and social values. Though they differ in approach, all share a vision of the economy as a place of moral action and accountability. Journalist Nick Romeo has spent years covering the world’s most innovative economic and policy ideas for <I>The New Yorker</I>. Romeo takes us on an extraordinary journey through the unforgettable stories and successes of people working to build economies that are more equal, just, and livable. Combining original, in-depth reporting with expert analysis, Romeo explores:<BR/>   <ul><li> The successful business owners organizing their companies as purpose trusts (as Patagonia recently did) to fulfill a higher mission, such as sharing profits with workers or protecting the environment </li><li> The growing deployment of new models by venture capital funds to promote wealth creation for the poorest Americans and address climate change. </li><li> How Oslo’s climate budgeting program is achieving the emission reduction targets the rest of the world continues to miss, creating a model that will soon be emulated by governments around the world </li><li> How Portugal strengths democratic culture by letting citizens make crucial budget decisions </li><li> The way worker ownership and cooperatives foster innovation, share wealth, and improve the quality of jobs, offering an increasingly popular model superior to the traditional corporation </li><li> The public-sector marketplace that offers decent work and real protections to gig workers in California </li><li> The job guarantee program in southern Austria that offers high-quality meaningful jobs to every citizen </li></ul> Many books have exposed what’s not working in our current system. Romeo reveals something even more essential: the structure of a system that could actually work for everyone. Margaret Thatcher was wron there is an alternative. This is what it looks like.<BR/>