Collective ownership can take a number of forms: unions, Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs), and stock options are all related. But the most important means of collective ownership will be the resurgence of an old model: the co-op.

Worker co-ops or companies that are owned by employees is not a new concept. In fact, during the Great Depression, farmers who were struggling to access energy resources because investor-owned utilities were not interested in serving rural areas, set up electrical cooperatives that they collectively owned. That said, despite demonstrated benefits... See more