Is a democratic economy possible? Lessons from history, horizons for the future

In Owning the Future, Matthew Lawrence examines how ownership structures shape economic outcomes and argues for rethinking who owns and controls key productive assets. The book explores policy and institutional routes — including public ownership, democratic governance, and social investment — to create an economy that serves broader social and environmental goals. Lawrence draws on contemporary crises in housing, energy, and infrastructure to show the limits of privatized provision and the democratic deficits this creates. He offers practical policy proposals for expanding public and democratic stakes in the economy while enabling innovation and productivity. The work situates economic democracy as both normative and instrumental for addressing affordability, stability, and sustainability challenges.

Planet on Fire by Matthew Lawrence explores the deep connections between ecological crisis and the existing political-economic order, arguing that climate breakdown reflects structural failures of capitalist governance. Lawrence analyzes how private ownership, short-term profit motives, and financialization impede the large-scale, long-term investment needed for decarbonization and resilience. He proposes democratic and public strategies for directing investment, reshaping production, and rebuilding social institutions to meet climate and social justice goals. The book synthesizes theory, policy proposals, and examples of institutional innovation to chart practicable pathways toward a greener, more democratic economy. It positions ecological transformation as inseparable from questions of ownership and democratic control.

Isabel Ferreras' Democratising the Corporation treats firms not merely as economic units but as political entities whose governance shapes democratic life. The book examines institutional reforms and practices that could extend democratic principles — voice and ownership — into corporate governance, including worker representation and cooperative forms. Ferreras engages with comparative cases and theoretical frameworks to propose how labor and democratic institutions can reshape corporate decision-making. She explores the implications of such reforms for social equality, economic performance, and broader democratic health. The work situates corporate democratization as central to renewing social democracy and addressing contemporary economic and environmental crises.

Economic Democracy, C. H. Douglas's first major work, introduces his Social Credit critique of the monetary system and argues for reforms to democratize purchasing power. Douglas explains how industrial production creates real wealth that the financial system fails to represent adequately, leading to chronic underconsumption and debt. He advocates mechanisms such as a national dividend and reforms to the price system to ensure that consumers can access produced goods. The book blends technical monetary analysis with a political vision that prioritizes individual freedom through economic enfranchisement. It established many of the concepts later expanded in Douglas's subsequent writings and influenced reform movements in the 1920s and 1930s.