The Informal Sector and the MeMO Movement

This report examines one particular solution to the unemployment problem, an experiment conducted in the Netherlands and coined the 'MeMO movement.' When the traditional formal sector, i.e., the institutionalized part of the economy in which people work for money in jobs generated by the market, is not sufficient to support a society, then the informal sector, sometimes called the gift and barter economy or community sector, becomes a means by which people earn a livelihood. This...
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This report examines one particular solution to the unemployment problem, an experiment conducted in the Netherlands and coined the 'MeMO movement.' When the traditional formal sector, i.e., the institutionalized part of the economy in which people work for money in jobs generated by the market, is not sufficient to support a society, then the informal sector, sometimes called the gift and barter economy or community sector, becomes a means by which people earn a livelihood. This latter sector is described as an alternative means of employment. Co-published with the Aspen Institute.