Capital and the Debt Trap: Learning from Cooperatives in the Global Crisis

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