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American politics has become a tinderbox of extreme inequality and nationalism, but its continuing political crises are sparking major progressive economic policy proposals in response. Much the same is happening in Britain, and in both countries the centre ground of economic thinking is shifting rapidly.

As Canada heads into a federal election, we ought to get up to speed with these policy debates.

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The most visible of the bold new progressive policies is the Green New Deal, but other innovative proposals — relating to ownership and control of our economy — deserve our attention. These include policies to guarantee employee representation on corporate boards, promote employee ownership of companies, and get serious about taxing the super-wealthy.

Strikingly, polling in both countries shows these policies are highly popular with voters across the political spectrum.

One intriguing policy proposal from Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren would guarantee employees representation on corporate boards of directors, holding 40 per cent of the seats. This model of “co-determination” in corporate governance would help rebalance companies’ focus on the interests of employees and the community as opposed to single-minded profit maximization for shareholders. The system already exists in countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, and research suggests that co-determination results in lower inequality, reduced CEO pay and fewer layoffs during downturns.