Democratic economy
Giving us an equal stake in the places where we live and work.
Too often the economy can look like a stitch up between large, distant institutions and large, distant corporations. It looks like this because frequently it is.
Free market ideology has been combined with our highly centralised state to create an economy with huge regional imbalances that does not work for huge swathes of the population. The new data economy is creating new inequalities, with economists, politicians and regulators failing to adapt to its different realities. And just as citizens have been left out of the decisions that shape the places they live, they have also been voiceless in the places where they work. Authoritarian populists are exploiting these failings to create division and undermine the institutions and conventions of our democracy.
We must devolve power to the places where people live – including new city and regional authorities – and create the tools and mechanisms for power to be responsive to their particular needs. We must give workers more of a say, so we all have a stake in what we produce and the places we work. From strengthening unions to worker co-operatives, NEF’s work shows how we can devolve economic power and drive up living standards.
Photo: Fossetts for the People social housing campaign
