Co-ops can cure inflation
V.2, N.09
In a recent New York Times column, Paul Krugman argues that the core elements of inflation are not only groceries and gasoline but also housing. Indeed, various measures of “shelter” comprise a third of the consumer price index and 40% of the “core inflation” index. So… if you want to lower inflation, bring down rents and housing prices. One smart way to do this is via cooperative ownership. We’re not talking about cooperative luxury apartments. Rather, as we’ve covered before, cooperative ownership is a smart strategy for mobile home owners too.
Our lead article, from Shelterforce, tells the tale of two mobile home parks in Northern California. The Leisureville Mobile Home Park in Woodland, California became a limited-equity housing co-op in 1995. It provided a promising local investment opportunity for residents, local banks, the city, and various loan funds. Meanwhile, an effort to restructure the nearby Rancho Yolo mobile park into a similar cooperative failed. Fast forward 27 years: Leisureville’s rents have gone up a modest 30%, while Rancho Yolo’s skyrocketed over 126% .
It’s clear evidence that local ownership, facilitated by local investment, reins in rent raisers and stabilizes prices. Indeed, we know from countless other studies that consumer co-ops provide cheaper goods to their members, and producer co-ops negotiate cheaper input costs for member businesses. Perhaps the Federal Reserve, instead of raising interest rates willy-nilly on all Americans and punishing them with an unemployment crisis and an economic recession, could consider lower interest rates for a mass conversion of landlord-owned housing into cooperatives.
Mobile home ownership, of course, comes with its own set of challenges, as underscored by our second article about a trailer park in Northern Virginia. In this case, a proposal to convert to a cooperative model reliant on local ownership was outbid, leaving residents in the dirt.
You’ll also find other news in this issue about recent successes with worker co-ops in Berkeley, CA, a new mutual bank in Walden, MA, and a just-opened indigenous-owned grocery store in Manitoba, Canada.
The bigger lesson from all these stories is that outsourcing the fight against inflation to distant, top-down bureaucracies like the Federal Reserve comes with many collateral risks and casualties. The alternative is to “insource” the solution with our own investment dollars. The faster, the better.
- Michael Shuman, Publisher, The Main Street Journal
NEWS
The Cost Of Not Going Co-op, Shelterforce (October 13)
At This Alexandria Community, The Challenges Of Mobile Home Ownership Are Thrown Into Sharp Relief, DCist (October 12)
What Makes Berkeley A Hotbed Of Worker Co-ops?, Berkeleyside (October 9)
Walden Mutual Bank, A Sustainable Food-Focused Digital Bank, Is Scheduled To Open, Walden Mutual Bank (October 6)
Pukatawagan Residents Celebrate Opening Of First Nation's New Community-Owned Grocery Store, CBC News (October 2)
PARTNER VOICES
New Community Wealth Building Provisions Signed Into Law By President Biden, Democracy Collaborative (August 26)
Worker Co-ops Organize To Make Community Finance Work For Movements, Nonprofit Quarterly (October 5)
Governor Newsom Signs Ground-Breaking Law Giving Workers a Chance to Become Owners, Project Equity via PRWeb (October 16)
EVENTS
Remaking the Economy: Redefining Leadership – Webinar. Thursday, November 10, 2pm ET. Featuring Seema Agnani (National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development), Tony Pickett (Grounded Solutions), and Dr. Akilah Watkins (Center for Community Progress), panelists in this webinar will discuss what are the kinds of leadership that the field needs to advance not only economic justice, but liberation. Register for free.
42nd Annual E.F. Schumacher Lecture – Lecture. Saturday, November 12, 2pm ET. 'Renegade' economist Kate Raworth will deliver the 42nd Annual E.F. Schumacher Lecture. Raworth is an ecological economist focused on making economics fit for 21st century realities. She is the creator of the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries. Her international best-selling book, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think like a 21st Century Economist, has been translated into more than 20 languages. Please join us to hear Kate Raworth live as she shares her perspective on new economic frameworks and how they can be applied at this pivotal moment. Register for free.
Raise Capital On Your Own Terms: Build It, Fund It, Grow It! – Webinar. November 2-4. Gain invaluable insights around raising capital for your business without compromising your vision or values. In three days, you’ll learn how to design an effective investment offer, identify values-aligned investors, and build the confidence and resources to enable your business to grow and thrive. Buy your ticket here. Get a special 20% off discount using the code: “MainStreet20”.
ICYMI
‘We are definitely a family': Local investment Club Celebrates 35 Years, Yahoo! News (October 7)
How A Company Becomes A Pillar Of Its Local Community, Harvard Business Review (October 3)
AlliedUP's Worker-Owned Cooperative Aims To Empower POC Employees, Newsfile (October 4)
CDFIs Are Quietly Multiplying In Georgia, Creating A Wealth Of Opportunity, SaportaReport (October 13)
Boosting Local Economic, Health And Conservation Outcomes Through Outdoor Recreation, World Economic Forum (October 3)
JOBS BOARD
Bread & Roses Community Funding is hiring a Senior Director of Finance & Administration.
Mission Driven Finance is hiring for multiple positions.
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About The Main Street Journal
The Main Street Journal aims to catalyze the movement of $50 trillion from Wall Street to Main Street to facilitate economic development and economic justice. It’s sponsored by the National Coalition for Community Capital, with a grant from the Heron Foundation. We welcome feedback about everything, from our design to content. And we welcome suggestions of other groups to involve as partners, and other information to include. Please send ideas to Sophia Leswing at sophia@main-street-journal.com.
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