This month we look at the question of public benefit. Under this heading, those responsible for overseeing the not-for-profit sector are redefining what it means to be a charity. Much reliance is placed on this term, although its legal meaning remains undefined. More crucially, its larger socio-historical and even economic significance is uncertain, which is what the current dition of Associate! addresses.

The lead, To give or not to give, surveys some typical responses to and concerns about the UK Charity Commission's prerogative. A review of an ancient institution is well and good, but, as Matthew Parris suggests, has something untoward slipped in? Through its highlighting of Michael Sandel's BBC Reith Lectures under the heading of New Citizenship, Sign of Our Times gives an apposite glimpse into the larger debate now taking place, the outcome of which could in principle have important contextual consequences. By looking at standard economic theory, the feature, Says Who?, challenges the assumption that the meaning of public benefit lies in the gift of the state.

The  July issue of Associate! explores such thoughts.

Arrangements are now in place designed to enable anyone anywhere in the world to donate money for associative economic research. Donors can simply go to aefriends.com/donate and follow the path that enables them to give any amount at any frequency in order to finance research into associative economics. The funds are sent to Hermes Trust in England, a registered charity providing the benefits of a non-profit for those funders who are entitled to or require them. Hermes then notifies the Fund’s trustees, Arthur Edwards and Christopher Houghton Budd, who then disburse them in accordance with the Fund’s two main focuses. Firstly, the AE Archive Project. Secondly, the promotion of serious research. 'Serious' means research that results in a written document publishable in the normal way, detailing its 'findings' or 'recommendations'. Such papers will be expected to meet the criteria of any professional paper, but additionally to conform to the methodological indications considered crucial by Rudolf Steiner when it comes to economics. Two in particular - that research should be both theoretical and practical; not one without the other. And that the thinking employed should be descriptive rather than inductive or deductive.

It is proposed and hoped that such material will then be published as part of the Centre's 'think tank' activity. It should be pointed out that this arrangement only establishes a channel. On the one end donors are now being sought; on the other researchers. We would like to encourage both, therefore. Donors can simply send their money - or if they have questions contact the trustees at the Centre’s address. Likewise proposed submissions should be sent to the trustees.

Associate! is the latest incarnation of a journal that began as New Economy Magazine in May 1980. In that time a great deal of material has been published from many contributors, the editorial intent of which has always been to travel, as it were, from the economic world as it is to the ideas of associative economics and back. The aim has not been to proselytise or promote associative economics in the abstract but to see if the ideas it embodies are already present in the world in some way, albeit in other terminologies; or to see if it could inform existing ways of behaving, institutions, and policies. The presentation of material is aphoristic in style, rather than journalistic, as befits its short space availability. Nevertheless, the list of topics is wide-ranging.

Now the index of all issues is available as a downloadable PDF via cfae.biz/publications. The PDF is searchable by the 'find' command and those interested in having reprint of any item need only do two things: order a reprint (£5) via the Centre's website and advise us of the title of the item required.