ABSTRACT

When states consider how best to shield their economies from the financial turbulence witnessed in recent years, how best to empower individuals to lift their own livelihoods, how best to incentivize decision-making that is sustainable for the environment, for communities, and for the economy, co-operatives should figure large in their planning. The International Co-operative Alliance, which has studied and supported the co-operative model of enterprise since 1895, has evidence to show that it is, by design, a sustainable model, in good times and bad, less buffeted by recessions, in part due to its lower risk profile, a natural result of being created to serve specific needs of its member-owners, rather than to pursue profit for itself.