We should own the economy

A new book about the future of capitalism and an invitation to participate in it.

We need to change who owns capital.

Private ownership of capital has created a lot of wealth and prosperity, and for much of the past centuries that has been a good thing, but now we need to create more owners of it. Not just the founders and executives and already rich, but everyone.

This is no longer Adam Smith’s economy—he could not have foreseen how wealth would consolidate into the hands of a few. Those rich enough from businesses, real estate, and investments were able to buy more businesses, real estate, and investments, until they owned most of the capital.

Today, the richest 10% of Americans own 92% of the stock market. That means when the economy does well, it benefits an increasingly few.

Our wealth imbalance has created a power imbalance. The world's wealthiest individuals have steadily claimed our companies, our media, our homes, our banks, our satellites, our technology, our governments. Wealth is cementing at these levels, with the already rich and powerful becoming even more so, and those not already wealthy unable to catch up or ever have a say again.

If we don’t do something about it we could lose democracy. We already are.

We need to expand Adam Smith’s model for future generations—to create an elevated vision for capitalism in which everyone gets richer from capital, not just the few who got in decades ago. If we can shift our wealth imbalance, we can shift our power imbalance—creating an economy owned and operated by us, and a democracy that better represents our interests.

That’s why I’m devoting the next couple of years to studying capital and how we can create more owners of it. I’m researching profit and how it can be owned by workers, invested in communities, and fund innovations that will benefit our future. I’m studying government structures that incentivize pro-social businesses, invest in our long-term growth and prosperity, and protect and advance the future of democratic governance.

I’m writing a vision for an economy that creates a better future for all of us, not just a bunch of shareholders.

My goal is to create, not just a book, but a movement: We Should Own The Economy, a vision for the future of capitalism (and the world).

Become part-owner in a book project about creating more owners

I once wrote that I’d rather have an investor than a publishing contract, that’s still true. Instead of pitching this idea to publishing houses, securing a book advance, writing it in secret over the next several years, then hoping people read it when it comes out; I’m pitching it to you. You can listen in on my interviews as I have them, read chapter drafts as I write them, contribute comments and help me crowdsource my research as I go, and even earn a share of the profits when it sells.

In other words: I’m giving you ownership in a book project about creating more owners.

I'm currently raising a $50,000 book advance to fund my research over the next several years. Once I've finished the book, I'll use Flexile to host my cap table before I open book sales to the public. Fifty percent of book sales will cover costs associated with the project and 40% will be distributed among investors as an annual distribution. I will donate the remaining 10% as an annual donation to GiveDirectly. If the project goes on to sell to a traditional publisher or becomes an audiobook, podcast, or documentary, we will retain that same profit-sharing split.

I'm raising a book advance to fund a book about systemic change

I'm crowdfunding my book advance using WeFunder, a platform that allows businesses to crowdfund investment from supporters, and share profits with them.

This book advance will allow me to:

• Market and pre-sell 10,000 book copies by book launch

• Design, print, and ship physical books

• Sell an additional 10,000 copies in the six weeks after publication

• Research organizations around the world who are doing this right

My goal is to pre-sell 10,000 copies before launch (10% of my projected subscriber base in January of 2028), and sell an additional 10,000 in the six weeks after publication through a coordinated marketing campaign and podcast circuit. Split between $20 ebooks and $30 print books, sales of 20,000 books would net $500,000 in revenue, with $200,000 going back to investors and $50,000 donated to GiveDirectly.

A roadmap of what I’m researching:

I plan to spend the next several years studying:

Worker Ownership: We should own the companies we work for

Workers should own a share of the value they help create, just like founders and executives do. I want to study how we can massively incentivize and expand worker ownership structures, including:

• Employee equity structures (ESPPs and RSUs)

• Employee stock ownership programs (Publix, Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell, The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, BDO)

• Employee ownership trusts and profit-sharing (John Lewis Partnership, ARUP, Mott MacDonald, Kearney)

• Cooperatives (Unimed in Brazil, Mondragon and Fundación Espriu in Spain, SACMI and Manutencoop in Italy; and S Group, 20 regional cooperatives in Finland)

• Profit-sharing (Metalabel, Gumroad, Valve Software)

Sources include: Carta, Rutgers, The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), Employee Ownership Expansion Network (EOX), International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA), Co-op UK, Social Capital Partners, Transform Finance

Stakeholder Ownership: Our economies should benefit everyone

It's not just the companies we work for, we also have a stake in the land we live on, the energy we consume, the technology we use, and the governments we are part of—we should participate as owners and ensure they act in our best interests. Including through:

• Purpose trusts (Bosch, Patagonia, Organically Grown, Ecosia)

• Community equity (WeFunder, StartEngine, Republic, Flexile)

• Fractional investment (Fundrise, AcreTrader, Masterworks, Rally Rd.)

• Collective ownership of technology (Personal ownership of data, collective ownership of AI/ technology, collective ownership of the internet & media platforms)

• Partial common ownership (RadicalxChange)

• Collective housing (Community land trusts, co-ops)

• Collective land & natural resources (Cooperatives, commons-based models, municipalities)

• Blockchain and tokenized ownership (RealT, ARTFI, Propchain, Frac)

Sources include: Audrey Tang and Plurality, The UN’s Social & Solidarity Economy, Conscious Capitalism, The Purpose Economy, Nathan Schneider, MEDLab, New_Public, Social Media Governance Initiative, Who Owns the Future?

Participatory Democracy: We should democratize economic power

Broad-based wealth ownership isn’t just about who holds financial assets—it’s about who has the power to shape the future. We can reinvent democracy to distribute influence more equitably. A few ways I want to study:

• Governance innovation (Decentralized, stakeholder-driven decision-making like RadicalxChange)

• Participatory democracy (Open governance platforms enabling collective decision-making like OpenGov, Decidim, Consul Democracy, vTaiwan & GovZero)

• Participatory budgeting (Allowing communities to direct public and corporate resources as in New York, Brazil)

• Quadratic voting/funding (Democratic funding mechanisms for economic initiatives like RadicalxChange, Gitcoin)

• Citizen's assemblies (Belgium, France, Germany)

Sources include: Audrey Tang and Plurality, Democracy Collaborative, Participatory Budgeting Project, MIT CoLab, The GovLab, Nesta, World Bank's Citizen Engagement, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Radical Markets

Funding the Future: Capital should fund a better economy

Our economy is the way it is because of how it's funded. Investors want short-term gains, not long-term share value. If we want companies that serve humanity, we need to change how they’re funded and who benefits from their success. A few things I want to study:

• How we fund stakeholder-owned companies (Loans, grants, crowdfunding, mission-aligned venture capital, impact investing, PE)

• Better exit strategies (Employee-ownership buyouts, ESOP holding companies, perpetual purpose trusts, community IPOs, restructuring IPOs)

• Policy shifts that facilitate funding (Pension & 401(k)s investment, downside protection for PE-backed ESOPs)

Sources include: KKR, Ownership Works, Expanding ESOPs, Purpose Ventures, Social Capital Partners, Exit to Community, Transform Finance

Public Policy: We need to make these models systemic

Government policy can structure markets to create long-term shared prosperity. I particularly want to study how we can incentivize the above ownership structures so they become our default economic policy. Including through:

• Incentivizing employee ownership (401(k)s as model, ESOP reform, Succession incentives)

• Incentivizing stakeholder ownership (OpenAI, Anthropic, tech ownership)

• IPO and board restructuring (SAIC, UPS, Ginkgo Bioworks)

• Sovereign wealth and public investment funds (Norway’s Oil Fund, Alaska PFD, Baby Bonds)

• Tax & regulatory structures for shared wealth (Rutger Bregman's Fair Tax Fellowship)

• Social policy and economic redistribution

Sources: SAIC, Mariana Mazzucato, International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds, Future Investment Initiative Institute, Rutger Bregman, Thomas Piketty

I hope you’ll also contribute to the project by sharing any additional resources you think I should study in the comments. This is a collaborative project and I’m excited to crowdsource my research from your expertise!

Thanks for reading,

Elle Griffin