This innovative volume presents twenty comparative case studies of important global questions, such as 'Where should our food come from?' 'What should we do about climate change?' and 'Where should innovation come from?' A variety of solutions are proposed and compared, including market-based, economic, and neoliberal approaches, as well as those determined by humane values and ethical and socially responsible perspectives. Drawing on original research, its chapters show that more responsible solutions are very often both more effective and better aligned with human values. Providing an important counterpoint to the standard capitalist thinking propounded in business school education, People Before Markets reveals the problematic assumptions of incumbent frameworks for solving global problems and inspires the next generation of business and social science students to pursue more effective and human-centered solutions.

‘People Before Markets imagines a lot more of a world that already exists, in pockets, here and there, by helping us envision an expansion of better ways of organizing. I particularly admire the section on who should own businesses because concentrated ownership threatens to undercut democratic institutions across every sector of the economy.'

Joseph R. Blasi - Distinguished Professor and Director, Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing, Rutgers University