Ownership Economics and Collateralizing Future Earnings

In order to stand a snowball’s chance in this brave, new, globalized, Trumped-up economy, here’s something that millennials need to know and understand. For all practical purposes, ALL THE DISCRETIONARY WEALTH IS BEING GENERATED ON THE OWNERSHIP SIDE OF THE ECONOMY!

That’s right. There are two ways in which to generate income. You can work for it in order to earn a wage or a salary. Or you can own wealth producing capital assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, machinery, copyrights, or patents, etc. Owners of such wealth producing capital assets collect dividends (i.e. generate an income) strictly by virtue of their ownership.

That’s why best-selling author and motivational speaker Robert Kiyosaki says “A job is a short term solution to a long term problem.” The long term solution to the long term problem of course is capital ownership because for all practical purposes ALL THE DISCRETIONARY WEALTH IS BEING GENERATED ON THE OWNERSHIP SIDE OF THE ECONOMY – NOT ON THE JOBS/LABOR SIDE. The jobs/labor side of the economy has stagnated for over three decades now, while the ownership side has expanded exponentially during the same time period.

So What Can Millennials Do?

So what can millennials do with this insightful piece of knowledge? For starters, in the wake of graduation, as they make their way into the brave, new, 21st century economy, they can look for companies that are owned by employees (including worker owned co-ops and ESOPS) and submit their resumes and applications.

Collateralizing Future Earnings

You see, companies that are employee owned (ESOPs which is short for Employee Stock Ownership Plans) are organized in such a way that employees who qualify are rewarded with opportunities to buy stock (become semi-partners) in the company they work for using FUTURE EARNINGS OF THE COMPANY (as opposed to their own savings or equity, which minimizes personal risk) AS COLLATERAL. In investment circles this strategy would be called a Leveraged Buy Out (an LBO).

THIS UNIQUE FORM OF CAPITAL CREDIT FINANCING IS ACCESSIBLE ONLY TO EMPLOYEES WORKING FOR COMPANIES OFFERING AN ESOP OPTION. More specifically, it’s not available in employee owned co-ops, which is the next best option. And it has NOTHING TO DO with a company offering employee stock options which is not only highly speculative, but 100% dependent on conventionally collateralized financing possibilities.

Two Income Streams

So, without dipping into savings or jeopardizing the family home, ESOP employees develop TWO STREAMS OF INCOME. One from their wage or salary, and the other from their stock based dividends. The first is actively generated through the employee’s own time and effort. The second is passive or residual income that’s generated by virtue of their ownership.

Suddenly you see employees/workers who are benefitting from both the job/labor and the ownership side of the economy – which, as we’ve said before, is where ALL THE DISCRETIONARY WEALTH IS BEING GENERATED in the 21st century economy.

What Else Can Millennials Do?

So what else can millennials do in this regard? They can support political candidates who advocate employee ownership as a business model. For example, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has sponsored two bills in the US Senate that are specifically designed to encourage employee ownership practices. The first (S.2909) “Provides programs designed to encourage employee ownership and participation in business decision making throughout the US.” The second (S.2914) “Creates a US Employee Ownership Bank” which is designed to be friendly to the idea of using future earnings as collateral in the stock ownership transaction.

The more millennials know about the power of ownership, the better their odds become of participating on the ownership side of the economy, where as we’ve said before, all the discretionary wealth is being generated. In the process the malignant wealth gap that’s so threatening to American democracy can be reversed. Corporate plantations that are built on hierarchy and on the backs of modern wage slaves can be democratized. And the odds of millennials surviving, even thriving in the 21st century economy will be maximized.

P.S. By the way, since this strategy is built on a foundation of private (not public) ownership, it is a capitalistic solution to our problems, not a socialistic solution.