The Not-for-Profit Economy

The Not-for-Profit Economy

Any economy is organized to achieve certain goals. Our present-day for-profit economy is organized to achieve the goal of making money for business owners. It is good at what it does. It is fit for purpose.

If we want to meet everyone’s needs in harmony with the planet, then we must reorganize the economy around different goals. We need the economy to focus directly on human and environmental needs. But what would that kind of economy look like? How would it work?

In this video, economist, Jennifer Hinton explains how a not-for-profit economy offers an alternative to our present-day economy.

The legal framework for not-for-profit businesses requires them to have a social benefit purpose at their core and to use all of their profit to achieve that social purpose. Crucially, they cannot deliver any profits to private investors. They encourage equality because there is no inherent incentive to suppress wages so everyone can receive a living wage. They reduce and get rid of unnecessary production and consumption, which is something we have to do if we are going to address our environmental crisis.

A not-for-profit economy might offer a pathway towards staying within the safe-operating space for humanity.