Ad Policy
Skip to content
  • Mastodon
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Donate
  • Log In
  • Podcasts
  • Books & The Arts
  • Climate Justice
  • Abortion Rights
  • Poetry
  • The Nation The Nation
    • Politics
    • World
    • Culture
    • Events
    • Shop
  • Disaster Capitalism

    Slide Show: 16 Bold Ideas for a New Economy

    • Current Issue
    • Newsletters
    • Subscribe
    • Search
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
Toggle Menu The Nation Share
  • fb
  • tw
  • mail
  • msg
  • wa
  • sms
  • Events
  • Politics
  • World
  • Climate
  • Activism
  • Culture
  • Podcasts
  • Shop
  • Subscribe
  • Current Issue
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
  • Log In
Mastodon Facebook Twitter Instagram

Log In

Forgot Your Password?
loader
New to The Nation? Subscribe
Print subscriber? Activate your online access
  • Disaster Capitalism
  • Photo Essay

Slide Show: 16 Bold Ideas for a New Economy

Slide Show: 16 Bold Ideas for a New Economy

By The NationTwitter

June 9, 2011

  • fb
  • tw
  • mail
  • Print
  • msg
  • wa
  • sms
  • Bookmark
June 9, 2011

Subscribe to The Nation

Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!

Get The Nation’s Weekly Newsletter

Fridays. The best of the week.

By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.

Thank you for signing up for The Nation’s weekly newsletter.

Repro Nation

A monthly newsletter on the global fight for reproductive freedom.

By signing up, you confirm that you are over the age of 16 and agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation’s journalism. You can read our Privacy Policy here.

Thank you for signing up. For more from The Nation, check out our latest issue.

Subscribe to The Nation

Subscribe now for as little as $2 a month!

Support Progressive Journalism

The Nation is reader supported: Chip in $10 or more to help us continue to write about the issues that matter.

Sign up for our Wine Club today.

Did you know you can support The Nation by drinking wine?
Reimagining Capitalism

 

Imagine you have the ability to reinvent American capitalism: Where would you start? What would you change to make it less destructive and domineering, more focused on what people really need for fulfilling lives? These are the questions that The Nation put to an eclectic list of people who are known for thinking long term—public-spirited veterans of business and finance, optimistic activists, inventive policy thinkers.

 

As this issue’s guest editor William Greider explains, their responses provide a provocative sampler of smart ideas—concrete proposals for reforming the dysfunctional economic system in fundamental ways. These brief essays should stimulate imaginations and maybe start some healthy arguments. At the very least, they demonstrate that the nation is alive with fresh thinking and bold outlines for big change.

 

Credit: José Chicas

 

A promising alternative to the profit-maximizing corporate model, Benefit Corporations declare their public missions in their articles of incorporation. As Jamie Raskin explains, this allows these companies to pursue social missions without fear of shareholder litigation.

 

Credit: AP Images 

The best way to ensure corporate accountability, according to William Lerach, is to save a seat on every board for an independent watchdog.

 

Credit: AP Images 

A tax on the rapid-fire trades that dominate financial markets would discourage reckless behavior and raise serious funds for public use, Sarah Anderson argues.

 

Credit: Reuters Pictures 

Robert Weissman says that the government has the power to spur innovation and reshape the economy—but it must be willing to flex its muscle.

 

Credit: Reuters Images 

Dirk Philipsen explains why relying so heavily on GDP as a measure of economic health is like removing all of the gauges on a car’s dashboard except the speedometer.

 

Credit: José Chicas 

Christopher Mackin argues that employee ownership plans carve a path toward what could be called responsible capitalism.

 

Credit: AP Images 

Barbara Dudley proposes publicly owned state banks as a way to create the underpinnings of truly local economies across the country.

 

Credit: José Chicas 

Kent Greenfield says that it’s time to recognize limited liability for what it is: a subsidy for corporations paid by those hurt by malfeasance.

 

Credit: Reuters Pictures 

According to Barry Lynn, the concentration of wealth and power among a few mega-corporations threatens our political and economic freedoms.

 

Credit: Reuters Pictures 

There is no economic demand more urgent than putting Americans back to work. L. Randall Wray explains how the government can do this by creating an “employer of last resort” program.

 

Credit: AP Images 

Congress should allow tax deductions for incentive pay schemes only if they distribute the rewards to the majority of workers, argue Joseph Blasi, Richard Freeman and Douglas Kruse.

 

Credit: Reuters Pictures 

Investors who seek out companies that are meeting the long-term challenge of sustainability will have a strategic advantage, according to Leslie Christian.

 

Credit: José Chicas 

Hotshot CEOs should be required to play by the same rules as small business owners, who have a personal stake in the companies they run, says Vincent A. Panvini Jr.

 

Credit: AP Images

We need an “open information” policy to combat corporate abuse of intellectual property laws and encourage the sharing of ideas, says Joe Costello.

 

Credit: AP Images 

Ray Carey argues that pension savings and 401(k) plans are supposed to guarantee workers a comfortable retirement, not provide fodder for financial managers.

 

Credit: AP Images 

End capitalism

Capitalism in any form compels us to be greedy, callous and petty, says Eugene McCarraher. Instead of reinventing it, we should replace it.

 

Find more ideas for reviving our ailing economic system in The Nation’s Reimagining Capitalism special issue.

 

Credit: Soman

The NationTwitterFounded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.


To submit a correction for our consideration, click here.

For Reprints and Permissions, click here.

Keep Reading
Ad Policy
x

Latest from the nation

Today 8:42 am

Republicans Want You to Forget Their Complicity in the Nashville Shooting

Elie MystalTwitter

Today 8:30 am

Theodora Smiley Lacey, Civil Rights Activist

Eileen Burgess

Today 5:30 am

Disability Is Always Someone Else’s Problem

Marie Myung-Ok LeeTwitter

Today 5:00 am

Don't Let the “Texas Observer” Shut Down

John Nichols

Today 5:00 am

Get Ready for Yet Another Pentagon Spending Spree

William D. HartungTwitter

editor's picks

VIDEO: People in Denmark Are a Lot Happier Than People in the United States. Here’s Why.

The NationTwitter

Historical Amnesia About Slavery Is a Tool of White Supremacy

Mychal Denzel SmithTwitter

The Nation

Follow The Nation

  • MD
  • FB
  • TW
  • IN
  • RSS

Get Email Updates

Sign up for our free daily newsletter, along with occasional offers for programs that support our journalism. By signing up to receive emails, you agree to receive occasional promotional offers for programs that support The Nation's journalism. You may unsubscribe or adjust your preferences at any time. You can read our Privacy Policy here.

Sections

  • Politics
  • World
  • Economy
  • Climate Change
  • Culture
  • Society
  • OppArt

The Nation

  • About
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Comments Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Help
  • Jobs and Internships
  • Support The Nation
  • Nation Events
  • Nation Shop
  • Nation Travels
  • Nation Wine Club
  • The Nation Fund

Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Masthead
  • Archive
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Gift Subscriptions
  • Academic Rate
  • Subscription Service
  • Reprints
  • Do Not Rent or Sell My Data

Copyright (c) 2023 The Nation Company LLC