What are economic associations, according to Rudolf Steiner, and how can they bring about healthy prices that allow workers and consumers to get their needs and wants met?
Rudolf Steiner described the idea of economic associations in greatest detail in a lecture he gave in Zurich, Switzerland, on 25 October 1919 (CW 332a).
In this article – free to download here – three fictional characters explore Steiner’s idea in an illuminating trialogue.
– T. Michael Cox, 27 January 2025
I would go even further away from institutions than you suggest and say that blockchains can perform most of the associative work. Naturally there would need to be managers and checkers/viewers of the blockchain progress, perhaps publishing daily reports in regional and/or goods specific areas.
The way I see it is akin to the idea of everyone their own banker. No intermediary is needed (neither association nor bank) except in that the internet and specifically blockchain type technology (fully transparent yet secure and even private in some sense) is the medium. Thus producers, traders, and consumers each meet directly through nodes and nexii, and a true price may be estimated on and in the instant, individually.