How Reserves and Funds Protect Workers in a Downturn
Reference code: C25-15 This commentary is one of a two-part set of commentaries that examines worker precarity in down economies. What “Reserves and Funds” Mean in Practice Reserves and internal funds reduce precarity only when they operate as pre-positioned commitments rather than discretionary gestures. The practical question is not whether the system has money. The […]
Durable Worker Security in Economic Downturns
Reference code: C25-14 This commentary is one of a two-part set of commentaries that examines worker precarity in down economies. Why Downturns Turn Jobs into Precarity Economic downturns translate quickly into worker precarity because the employment relationship in the United States is often the gateway to stability rather than merely a source of wages. The […]
The Problem of Captured Surplus
Why A Commons-Based Enterprise Model Is Needed Now Reference code: C25-13 Historical Drift of the Postwar Social Contract In the decades after the Second World War, households in the United States could reasonably expect that diligent work would translate into stability, modest upward mobility and some measure of shared prosperity. Productivity growth, wage growth and […]
Projected Reach of Commons Enterprises in the United States
Reference code: C25-12 Recent data from the Federal Reserve and related analyses show just how concentrated wealth has become in the United States. The Federal Reserve’s Distributional Financial Accounts, summarized in a June 2025 article from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, report that the top 10 percent of households hold about 67.2 percent […]