Show 36: Workplace Democracy and the Cooperative Economy

WorldBlu recently announced its first list of the Most Democratic Workplaces. Bill Baue speaks with Rodney North, whose official title is The Answer Man at Equal Exchange, the oldest and largest for-profit Fair Trade company in the US. Equal Exchange was one of four worker-owned cooperatives and one of 34 organizations in all to win the award. The discussion addresses democracy in the corporate workplace and in the capitalist system more broadly speaking, transforming it into a more cooperative economy.

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WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces 2007

Equal Exchange

SocialFunds article: Wainwright Bank and Equal Exchange Partner to Offer the First Branded Certificate of Deposit

Show 35: Asian Volatility and Product Toxicity; Citizen Investors Democratizing Capitalism

As goes the Chinese stock market, so may go US markets. But what happens when the volatility in China is of a different kind – consumer panic over product toxicity concerns? American companies selling products in Asia can suffer extremely volatile product sales due to "regulation by scandal." We speak with Melissa Brown, director of ASrIA -- The Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia.Then, we talk with Stephen Davis regarding his book “The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda.” He talks about how citizens, through their retirement savings, are beginning to reshape the agenda of mutual funds and corporations.

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Cohosts Sanford Lewis, Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon

ASrIA - The Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia

Davis Global Advisors

Investor Environmental Health Network

SocialFunds Book Review--The New Capitalists: How Citizen Investors Are Reshaping the Corporate Agenda