Capital and the Debt Trap, learning from cooperatives in the global crisis: learning from cooperatives in the global crisis

The Recent Financial Crisis Has Had A Devastating Impact Around The Globe. Thousands Of Businesses Have Closed, Millions Of Jobs Have Been Cut And Many People Have Lost Their Homes. Capital And The Debt Trap Explains How Key Economies Have Fallen Into A 'debt Trap', Linking The Financial Sphere To The Real Economy, And€looks Into Alternatives To The Constant Stream Of Financial Bubbles And Shocks. Overlooked By Many, Cooperatives Across The World Have Been Relatively Resilient Throughout The Crisis. Through Four Case Studies, This Book Explores Their Strategies, Providing An In-depth Analysis Within A Broader Debate On Wealth Generation And A Sustainable Future. To All Those Interested In Political Economy, Enterprise Governance, Development Studies And Cooperatives, Capital And The Debt Trap Opens Up New Ways Of Thinking. The Financial Crisis Is Destroying Wealth But Is Also A Remarkable Opportunity To Uncover The Ways By Which Debt Can Be Used To Regulate The Economic System. This Book Uses Four Case Studies Of Cooperatives To Give An In-depth Analysis On How They Have Braved The Crisis And Continued To Generate Wealth-- Introduction -- The Mother Of All Crises? -- Causes And Mechanisms -- Shifting Control Versus Ownership -- Cooperatives: Importance, Resilience And Rationality -- Natividad Island Fishermen's And Divers' Cooperative, Mexico: Managing Natural Resources To Generate Wealth -- Ceralep Socǐť Nouvelle, France: David And Goliath In The Glocal Economy -- The Desjardins Cooperative Group: A Financial Movement For Quebec's Development -- The Mondragon Cooperative Group: Local Development With A Global Vision -- The Global Crisis: Mother Of All Warnings. Machine Generated Contents Note: -- Introduction -- The Mother Of All Crises? -- Causes And Mechanisms -- Shifting Control Versus Ownership -- Cooperatives: Importance, Resilience And Rationality -- Natividad Island Fishermen's And Divers' Cooperative, Mexico: Managing Natural Resources To Generate Wealth -- Ceralep Société Nouvelle, France: David And Goliath In The Global Economy -- The Desjardins Cooperative Group: A Financial Movement For Quebec's Development -- The Mondragon Cooperative Group: Local Development With A Global Vision -- The Global Crisis: Mother Of All Warnings. Claudia Sanchez Bajo And Bruno Roelants ; Foreword By Ian Macpherson. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 List of Boxes, Figures and Tables......Page 10 Foreword......Page 11 Acknowledgements......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 Introduction......Page 20 How it began: the sub-prime housing market in the USA......Page 21 Danger ahead......Page 23 Bursting the global bubble......Page 27 Wealth destruction......Page 34 Homes and pensions......Page 36 Jobs and plants......Page 37 Trade and investment......Page 41 Curbing the crisis......Page 44 State aid to banks: solvency and nationalization......Page 45 Stimulus packages......Page 47 State spending and solvency......Page 48 Governments face a public debt crisis......Page 50 Which strategies have been attempted to restart growth?......Page 52 Technology and industrial policy......Page 53 Investing in commodities and SMEs......Page 54 Regulation to contain the worst excesses by banks and lenders......Page 55 Conclusion......Page 57 The individualistic hypothesis......Page 60 The monetary hypothesis......Page 63 Problematic business models......Page 64 The systemic reproduction hypothesis......Page 68 The three traps......Page 69 The consumption trap......Page 70 The liquidity trap......Page 78 The debt trap......Page 86 Conclusion......Page 92 Introduction......Page 94 The relevance of discussing the organization of economic entities......Page 95 The evolution of the concepts of ownership and control......Page 97 Financialization......Page 99 Technification......Page 100 The investor function......Page 102 The producer function......Page 106 The consumer function......Page 112 Conclusion......Page 115 Introduction......Page 116 Critiques of cooperatives......Page 117 Economic importance......Page 120 Social and employment importance......Page 123 Economic and social contributions that cannot be measured by conventional methods......Page 124 The resilience of cooperatives to the crisis......Page 126 The international cooperative standards......Page 129 The first layer in understanding the cooperative rationality: the international definition......Page 131 The second layer in understanding the cooperative rationality: the operational principles......Page 134 Cooperative values......Page 141 Mutuals, a very similar type of economic organization......Page 142 A political economy approach to cooperatives......Page 143 The evolution of the cooperative......Page 145 Internal organization, impact of the crisis and partnerships......Page 147 Managing natural resources......Page 148 Conclusion: combining long-term environmental, economic and social interests......Page 149 Introduction......Page 151 Evolution of Ceralep up to 2003......Page 152 The petition for bankruptcy......Page 154 From liquidation to the establishment of the cooperative......Page 155 Community mobilization and fund raising......Page 157 The Ceralep Société Nouvelle cooperative......Page 160 Absentee investors versus real economy producers......Page 163 How Ceralep was transformed into a cooperative......Page 164 On the cooperative model......Page 165 Conclusion......Page 166 Introduction......Page 167 Desjardins' first steps......Page 168 The Great Depression: an opportunity for the Desjardins network to grow......Page 170 The post-war period, the 1960s and 1970s: the debate on consumption patterns......Page 171 The 1980s and 1990s: the North American free trade agreement and globalization......Page 174 The internal debate on the group's restructuring in the 1990s......Page 178 Between 2000 and the global crisis: Desjardins' big transformation......Page 183 The global crisis and the future......Page 186 Conclusion......Page 189 Introduction......Page 191 The very first steps......Page 193 Basic characteristics of a Mondragon cooperative......Page 194 The birth and development of the group's support institutions......Page 195 How the bank was involved in the creation and early development of the cooperatives......Page 200 The crisis of the early 1980s......Page 202 Entry into the EU and the beginning of the Mondragon group's restructuring......Page 206 Implementing the restructuring process......Page 209 New financial mechanisms......Page 210 Evolution in the distribution sector......Page 211 Exploring new activities: social services......Page 212 Education and academic research......Page 213 R&D......Page 214 Impact of the crisis on Mondragon......Page 215 What the group is doing to counter the effects of the crisis......Page 216 The effort to create sustainable jobs......Page 222 Solidarity and cooperation among enterprises, combined with a rigorous entrepreneurial approach......Page 224 Equilibrium and adaptation to change......Page 225 Is the Mondragon model replicable?......Page 226 Introduction......Page 227 Stepping off the trodden path......Page 228 Systemic contribution......Page 230 Incidence in key economic activities......Page 231 Creating shared wealth......Page 233 The indirect contribution of cooperatives to the economy as a source of inspiration......Page 235 Change may well be on the horizon......Page 237 Notes......Page 239 List of Interviewees......Page 274 Bibliography......Page 276 Index......Page 285 REVIEWS 'Capital and the Debt Trap combines a searing critique of the unstable debt- and-profit driven system that came close to final collapse in the Great Crisis with a fine portrait of the modern cooperative alternative that exists today in Mexico, Canada, France and Spain. Are these perhaps the small creatures that will survive and flourish after the great dinosaurs are gone? Let's hope so.' - James K. Galbraith, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and University of Texas at Austin 'This book is simply a masterpiece on cooperativism for the xxi century. It outstandingly demonstrates why cooperatives are more resilient to the crisis and avoid falling into the dept trap and its implacable cohort of inhuman effects. A decisive contribution not only to economic democracy but also to Democracy as a political system.' - Yves Cabannes, University College London 'This is a timely and important book which both analyses current economic turmoil and shows how the crisis may foment new and more co-operative forms of enterprise. Anyone interested in advancing the cause of participatory ownership as one means of guarding against recurrent crises should read this book.'-- George Irvin, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London 'This book presents a thoughtful and exciting consideration of the roles cooperatives can play -- and should be expected to play -- today ... It deserves to be widely read and discussed within and across the boundaries that have long divided cooperative proponents and the general public.'-- Ian MacPherson, University of Victoria, Canada 'This book is a major step forward in understanding the working of co-operative economies. Its appearance could hardly have been more timely. At a point when the global financial system and the models of economic governance have been thrown into question, it shows how it is that co-operative financial systems are more crisis resistant than contemporary private banking, and how finance can be structured to service long term local and industrial growth rather than subject it to the imperative of short term profitability. More generally, the authors describe an architecture of co-operative governance that has not only been innovative and resilient but is particularly well suited to any post crisis world that is reshaped round multi stakeholder engagement.' - Robin Murray, LSE Global Governance and author of Co-operation in the Age of Google. The financial crisis is destroying wealth but is also a remarkable opportunity to uncover the ways by which debt can be used to regulate the economic system. This book uses four case studies of cooperatives to give an in-depth analysis on how they have braved the crisis and continued to generate wealth. The recent financial crisis has had a devastating impact around the globe. Thousands of businesses have closed, millions of jobs have been cut and many people have lost their homes. Capital and the Debt Trap explains how key economies have fallen into a 'debt trap', linking the financial sphere to the real economy, and looks into alternatives to the constant stream of financial bubbles and shocks. Overlooked by many, cooperatives across the world have been relatively resilient throughout the crisis. Through four case studies, this book explores their strategies, providing an in-depth analysis within a broader debate on wealth generation and a sustainable future. To all those interested in political economy, enterprise governance, development studies and cooperatives, Capital and the Debt Trap opens up new ways of thinking Introduction Chapter 1 The Mother Of All Crises? Chapter 2 Causes And Mechanisms Chapter 3 Shifting Control versus Ownership Chapter 4 Cooperatives: Importance, Resilience and Rationality Chapter 5 Natividad Island Fishermen's and Divers' Cooperative, Mexico: Managing Natural Resources to Generate Wealth Chapter 6 Ceralep Société Nouvelle, France: David and Goliath in the Glocal Economy Chapter 7 The Desjardins Cooperative Group: A Financial Movement For Quebec's Development Chapter 9 The Mondragon Cooperative Group: Local Development With A Global Vision Conclusions The Global Crisis: Mother of all Warnings Machine generated contents note: Introduction The Mother Of All Crises? Causes And Mechanisms Shifting Control versus Ownership Cooperatives: Importance, Resilience and Rationality Natividad Island Divers' and Fishermen's Cooperative, Mexico : Managing Natural Resources to Generate Wealth Ceralep Société Nouvelle, France : David and Goliath in the Global Economy The Desjardins Cooperative Group : A Financial Movement For Quebéc's Development The Mondragon Cooperative Group: Local Development With A Global Vision The Global Crisis : Mother of all Warnings.