The recent tragedy in West-London in which at least thirty people have died, is probably the result of a lack of investment in fire safety measures by the landlord. According to classical liberalism the principal duty of any government is to protect the life, health and property of its citizens. And in this case both local and national government has utterly failed to protect the residents of Grenfell Tower. Continue reading Housing cooperatives
Non-Tax Revenue
We believe that governments should maximize their revenue from non-tax sources and should reduce their reliance on tax revenue. Here we will give a classification of several types of non-tax revenue. Continue reading Non-Tax Revenue
Why monetary reform?
Traditional economics believes that money is neutral. This means that the choices and preferences people make and have are not affected by the existence of money. According to this view it should not matter whether we use money or engage in barter trade. Continue reading Why monetary reform?
Everyman’s right
Earlier we developed the theory of public property as a special case of co-ownership. Property includes the rights of usus, fructus and abusus. This piece will discuss the nature of the everyman’s right or the freedom to roam within the theory of land as common property. Continue reading Everyman’s right
Forest gardens in practice
New Zealand couple Robert and Robyn Cuyton have developed a two-acre forest garden. This video shows what a forest garden looks like and the Cuytons explain how to create and maintain one.
Waste water treatment
As pointed out earlier the treatment of waste water is essential for the quality of live in space settlements. Waste water is full of substances which need to be removed from it, before it could be converted back to drinking water. In particular waste water is rich in nitrates and ammonium. Continue reading Waste water treatment
Some numbers
In The High Frontier Gerard O’Neil states that to feed one person we need 65 square meters of agricultural land. Also he argues in the same book that people need 45 square meters of living space per person to live comfortably. These numbers are important for designing space settlements and here we will assume these numbers to be true. Continue reading Some numbers
Suburban Permaculture
Here is an interesting video on suburban parmaculture or food garden:
Methods to promote cooperatives
On this site we have proposed several methods which the government could use to stimulate the creation of a cooperative economy.
First of all, the government should give preferential treatment to worker cooperatives when procuring goods and services from the private sector. This will give cooperatives an advantage and hence create an inducement to start a cooperative and to maintain them.
Also the government could set up a finance company which will help people with funding a cooperative through either finance or operating lease. This way the start-up costs and hence risks for new cooperatives will be reduced. By reducing the costs of setting up a cooperative, their formation will become more attractive.
Further the government should create a level playing field between wage labor and self-employment. This requires, for instance, the abolition of minimum wage laws and its replacement with some kind of basic income guarantee. A basic income will reduce the risk people face when they run their own businesses.
Another idea is when people who have lost their job apply for unemployment benefits, to inform them of the possibility to set up a cooperative with other people who lost their jobs. This should be combined with a retraining program, to ensure people will have the necessary skills to operate a worker cooperative.
