The Alternative

“TINA (There is no alternative) has been the most powerful weapon deployed against its critics by neoliberal free-market economists in the last few decades. In this informative and courageous book, Nick Romeo shows there is an alternative—or, rather, many alternatives—to the currently dominant neoliberal economic system. In doing so, he liberates our economic imagination and puts a backbone into economics as a moral science. This is a very valuable field manual for those who want to change our economies for the better.”

"Romeo’s diligently researched and admirably principled new book...“The Alternative” present diverse solutions to the problems of paltry wages, rampant unemployment, unstable housing and exploitative labor practices....“The Alternative” is a brisk and sensible book that details bold and ingenious proposals in measured tones. Romeo...has the approachable style of a moderate but the bold convictions of a radical."

“Romeo’s The Alternative got my emotions boiling. After reading the history of how we’ve come to blindly accept that poverty and massive inequality are immutable fixtures of capitalism, I was left angry and disgusted. And yet I felt a strong rush of hope in seeing, through Romeo’s deep research and vivid storytelling, that there are plenty of great solutions out there, and they’re already being put into practice. As this important book makes clear, we just need the moral courage and political imagination to make them mainstream.”
 

“Carefully researched, beautifully written, engaging stories, filled with wisdom about building economic justice. Easy reading that results in hard thinking about how economics can be a force for good.”
 

“There is an alternative to capitalism as we know it. Romeo vividly describes the options, giving reason for optimism about a more just and democratic economy beyond the bleak prison of shareholder capitalism. The Alternative reports from the front lines on bold experiments going on around the world: providing consumers information on the true costs of what they buy; enterprises that pay a sustainable living wage; job guarantees for all workers; gig-employment platforms operated as a public utility; large-scale, worker-owned cooperatives; perpetual purpose trusts; participatory government budgeting; expansive employee ownership.”
 

“Profound and engaging, a terrific book that deserves to be widely read. Romeo zeroes in on the actual solutions undertaken by communities and businesses to end the crises of global warming and wealth inequality and provide good jobs for all with genuine living wages. The Alternative gives us the ways and means for creating a just economy.”
 

“Romeo’s The Alternative breathes with hope and urgency about building a more equitable economy and society. The hope, however, rests not on fanciful dreams but is grounded in living examples of people and organizations that are already demonstrating their viability. Whether these are cooperatives, perpetual purpose or employee-owned enterprises, land trusts, job guarantees, or companies with livable wages—these efforts are signals of what is possible. I hope that by bringing these ‘alternatives’ to the attention of wider audiences, Romeo’s book will inspire many more such efforts, helping to move them from the margins of our economy to the mainstream.”
 

“An enlightening, inspiring read… The Alternative brings together an appealing range of ways people across the west are imaginatively and determinedly contesting the givens in today’s capitalism. There is an ache for better – for more just ways of organising the way we work and adding more meaning to our lives. You can’t help but applaud Nick Romeo for showing the workable alternatives to capitalism and the moral driver behind them – everything from the way companies are incorporated to how employees are hired, paid and enabled to share in the value they create.”
 

“Journalist Romeo debuts with an invigorating investigation of how governments across the globe are implementing creative and practical fixes…This is an eye-opening handbook for a better world.”
 

“[It] makes a terrific complement to Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America for readers looking for practical solutions…Eschewing both “revolution [and] resignation.”