Featured Publications

On this page, we feature some of our publications, including reports and books, that help to map the DNA of the democratic economy and what it will take for us to build it.

Climate Justice, Community Wealth Building Communications Team Climate Justice, Community Wealth Building Communications Team

Building Resiliency through Green Infrastructure: A Community Wealth Building Approach

Creating climate-resilient cities takes more than a series of infrastructure investments; more than sea walls and permeable pavement. It takes investment in people. Those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change are those without living wages or access to political power—very often communities of color. As the seas continue to rise, climate resiliency strategies need to not only build the infrastructure but also tackle the underlying reasons why those who bear the disproportionate burden of climate change are those with the least ability to recover.

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Money & Banking, Democratic Ownership Communications Team Money & Banking, Democratic Ownership Communications Team

Public Banks

Public banks receive their revenue through mechanisms set by the jurisdictions that run them. They invest, lend, and provide banking services, often at below-market rates and sometimes in partnership with community banks. Their “return on investment” is measured less in financial returns and more in their success in supporting such social goods as affordable housing, neighborhood development, infrastructure, small business development, education, and job creation. In modern economies, it is lending by large commercial banks, rather than actions by the state, that creates the majority of the money supply. Public banks are a way to democratize the money-creation process and ensure that the process is used for public purposes.

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Carla Skandier Carla Skandier

Quantitative Easing for the Planet

The United States can wield its sovereign monetary power to finance and encourage investment in non-extractive energy projects. Why, then, do oil and gas companies still seek new reserves, governments still license dangerous infrastructure, banks still finance carbon-intensive projects, and investors still embrace fossil fuel companies?

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Energy Democracy Communications Team Energy Democracy Communications Team

Taking climate action to the next level

Real climate leadership means taking on the root causes of climate change and other societal ills to change the system before we breach critical thresholds in temperature rises. We need to start implementing energy interventions today in key points of the system with the aims of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, deploying renewable energy, and changing our political economy.

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Money & Banking, Democratic Ownership Thomas Hanna Money & Banking, Democratic Ownership Thomas Hanna

The Crisis Next Time: Planning for Public Ownership as an Alternative to Corporate Bank Bailouts

The next financial crisis is all but inevitable. While its exact timing and severity cannot be predicted, both the accelerating frequency of crises in recent decades and the continued consolidation of the banking sector in an increasingly financialized economy suggest that we should be prepared for a crisis sooner rather than later.

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Democratic Ownership, Racial Equity Communications Team Democratic Ownership, Racial Equity Communications Team

Community Control of Land and Housing: Exploring strategies for combating displacement, expanding ownership, and building community wealth

Today, many communities across the country are facing new threats of instability, unaffordability, disempowerment, and displacement due to various economic, demographic, and cultural changes that are putting increased pressure on land and housing resources. This report provides an overview of strategies and tools that, as a group, represent an innovative and potentially powerful new approach—one that establishes, in various ways, community control of land and housing.

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Anchor Institutions Rush University Medical Center Anchor Institutions Rush University Medical Center

The Anchor Mission Playbook

The recommendations in this “playbook,” drawn from research carried out to help Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) align around its Anchor Mission, are being published to help other hospitals and health systems accelerate their own efforts to drive institutional alignment with community needs.

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