> According to Zamagni, in the wake of a 1971 law that exempted co-ops from certain kinds of banking limitations, Coop was able to raise a lot of money in small

> According to Zamagni, in the wake of a 1971 law that exempted co-ops from certain kinds of banking limitations, Coop was able to raise a lot of money in small amounts from many, many members. Coop became the Italian retail leader in part because it could tap its already sizable membership base for the loans it needed to expand. In my opinion, we are truly shooting ourselves in the foot by giving banks a monopoly on financing. Credit is the blood in the body economic, and by making banks an accessory to every credit transaction we greatly reduce its flow through the economy.