2009 - 2029: 
20 Years local economy

Twenty years have passed since the institutionalization of the local markets. At that time - in the year 2009 - the provisional grassroots organisations which had been developed  in the aftermath of the Great Economic Crisis became consolidated and were promoted. Whereas in these days hardly anybody considered the institutions as more than a mere remedy to the crisis, they have become by now a natural part of the dual economy.

It is nowadays hardly conceivable that so different things as for instance food or modern telecommunication products are mediated in only one economic system. This development becomes understandable only if one looks back to the one-dimensional economic structure of the era before the crisis and takes into consideration also the social and ecological implications of this structure. Quite interesting in this context are early attempts to develop alternative forms of organising the production process.   Much of what existed in the old market economy only in the shadow became later usual practice. In particular for many younger citizens it is hardly understandable that these positive initiatives did not lead to a reform of the market economy. However, one has to be aware that in particular the ecological challenge was something completely new sixty years ago. 

English Translation of the article from 1989 now available - click "English Version".