Laura Flanders – Community Wealth Building: The Most Important Global Economic Movement of our Time

In the early 1980s Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and conservative economists such as Milton Friedman ushered in a global era of “neo-liberal” economics, which saw markets and large corporations given nearly unrestrained power, leading to ever escalating wealth inequality and the capture of government by monied interests. But in recent years a new global movement, Community Wealth Building, has been pushing back on neo-liberalism, fighting to democratize the economy and build wealth for the many, not just the few. It is taking hold in places as varied as Cleveland, Jackson Mississippi and the Pine Ridge Reservation here in the U.S., and in England, Scotland, Amsterdam and Australia. Renowned journalist Laura Flanders, host of The Laura Flanders Show on public television, explains why this growing movement for a democratic economy may be the most important economic movement of our time. 

This talk was delivered at the 2023 Bioneers Conference.

Laura Flanders, one of the pre-eminent progressive journalists and media figures in the country, is the host and Executive Producer of the nationally syndicated The Laura Flanders Show, which airs on nearly 300 PBS stations nationwide (and online, on radio, and as a podcast). She is an Izzy-Award winning independent journalist, a bestselling author (including of: Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable, Inspirational Political Change in America and Bushwomen) and a recipient of the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Media Center.

Learn more about Laura Flanders and her work at The Laura Flanders Show.

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