Thediscussion questionis:
In her article, "Co-op Economics", Nancy Folbre proposes a dramatically different power structure at the level of the individual firm, with workers democratically controlling the enterprises where they work.
a.)Why do she and other contributors think that this alternative structure could be desirable for workers and for society by comparing cooperative firms and capitalist firms.b.)If it is so desirable, give reasons cited from the readings and videos why it is not more common? Video and article sources include:video: "Workers to Owners: The Story of A Child's Place"; video: "Noam Chomsky - Worker-Owned Enterprises"; "Why the U.S. Needs More Worker-Owned Companies". When citing reasons give author and location of the idea by putting the name of the author and location of the idea in parentheses. For example, (Chomsky, 2 min., 15sec) or (Folbre, paragraph 3).c.)
If the worker-owners of a co-operative firm work hard building their co-op and end up earning zero economic profit for the year, would this be considered a failed co-operative business to an economist? Why or why not? Explain what normal profit and economic profit mean and how it fits into the cooperative business assuming it is operating in a perfectly competitive market as a perfectly competitive firm.
6.
Terms or concepts include the following:
efficiency, inefficiency, productivity, incentives, competition, cooperative decision-making, top-down decision making, entrepreneurs, normal profit, implicit costs, economic profit. Be sure tobold or underline, or both, the minimum four, or more, terms or conceptsin the text of your initial discussion postas you use them.
To enhance your chances of achieving an exemplary grade for each discussion, please note the location where each of the four concepts or terms you use in your discussion can be found in the reading or video by citing - inside parenthesis - the specific named source and page of the text or video time. For example: economic efficiency (Chiang, p. 34), or, economic efficiency (Video 4 on Human organs, 20:55). Be sure to bold the terms in the text of your initial discussion post as you use them. Put the source and location for each of your highlighted terms or concepts from the list of key terms or concepts for exemplary grade point consideration. The word count must be written in parentheses after the discussion post and replies or the discussion post will either receive 0 points, a substantial grade point penalty, or not be graded at all.