Local Dollars, Local Sense is a guide to creating Community Resilience. Americans' long-term savings in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, pension funds, and life insurance funds total about $30 trillion. But not even 1 percent of these savings touch local small business-even though roughly half the jobs and the output in the private economy come from them. So, how can people increasingly concerned with the poor returns from Wall Street and the devastating impact of global companies on their communities invest in Main Street? In Local Dollars, Local Sense, local economy pioneer Michael Shuman shows investors, including the nearly 99% who are unaccredited, how to put their money into building local businesses and resilient regional economies-and profit in the process. A revolutionary toolbox for social change, written with compelling personal stories, the book delivers the most thorough overview available of local investment options, explains the obstacles, and profiles investors who have paved the way. Shuman demystifies the growing realm of local investment choices-from institutional lending to investment clubs and networks, local investment funds, community ownership, direct public offerings, local stock exchanges, crowdfunding, and more. He also guides readers through the lucrative opportunities to invest locally in their homes, energy efficiency, and themselves. A rich resource for both investors and the entrepreneurs they want to support, Local Dollars, Local Sense eloquently shows how to truly protect your financial future--and your community's.
An inspiring yet practical new book, Local Money helps you understand what money is and what makes good and bad money. It draws on the considerable track record of experimentation with local money around the world and gives ideas to those in the Transition movement and beyond about what has been tried, what works, and what to avoid.
Based on detailed research and consultation with experts, including the Bank of England, this book reviews theoretical and historical debates on the nature of money and banking and explains the role of the central bank, the Government and the European Union. Following a sell out first edition and reprint, this second edition includes new sections on Libor and quantitative easing in the UK and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
Local money has been used for hundreds of years and throughout the world, yet very few of us understand what it's all about. Recently, Bristol and Brixton launched their own 'Pounds', but why? We all need money - to stay alive, to buy essential goods and services. But when jobs and money are in short supply it's largely because 97% of national money is controlled by the private banking industry. They trade, gamble and invest money where they can earn the biggest profit. And when the banks are in trouble so are ordinary people.By contrast, local currencies are owned by the community. They are designed to support local businesses, local jobs, local producers and services, local crafts and artists, community initiatives, charities, volunteers, etc. They create strong social networks and ensure that the community thrives even in a recession. By keeping the currency local, they protect it from speculators who will only invest if there is a profit to be had.This pamphlet explains the practical differences between national and local money - how local currencies work, what they can do that national money can't do, and why they are needed. If you are lucky enough to have a local currency, find out why you should join it. If you don't, you might be inspired to start one!Local money has been used for hundreds of years and throughout the world, yet very few of us understand what it's all about. Recently, Bristol and Brixton launched their own 'Pounds', but why? We all need money - to stay alive, to buy essential goods and services. But when jobs and money are in short supply it's largely because 97% of national money is controlled by the private banking industry. They trade, gamble and invest money where they can earn the biggest profit. And when the banks are in trouble so are ordinary people.By contrast, local currencies are owned by the community. They are designed to support local businesses, local jobs, local producers and services, local crafts and artists, community initiatives, charities, volunteers, etc. They create strong social networks and ensure that the community thrives even in a recession. By keeping the currency local, they protect it from speculators who will only invest if there is a profit to be had.This pamphlet explains the practical differences between national and local money - how local currencies work, what they can do that national money can't do, and why they are needed. If you are lucky enough to have a local currency, find out why you should join it. If you don't, you might be inspired to start one!Local money has been used for hundreds of years and throughout the world, yet very few of us understand what it's all about. Recently, Bristol and Brixton launched their own 'Pounds', but why? We all need money - to stay alive, to buy essential goods and services. But when jobs and money are in short supply it's largely because 97% of national money is controlled by the private banking industry. They trade, gamble and invest money where they can earn the biggest profit. And when the banks are in trouble so are ordinary people.By contrast, local currencies are owned by the community. They are designed to support local businesses, local jobs, local producers and services, local crafts and artists, community initiatives, charities, volunteers, etc. They create strong social networks and ensure that the community thrives even in a recession. By keeping the currency local, they protect it from speculators who will only invest if there is a profit to be had.This pamphlet explains the practical differences between national and local money - how local currencies work, what they can do that national money can't do, and why they are needed. If you are lucky enough to have a local currency, find out why you should join it. If you don't, you might be inspired to start one!
“[Hewitt] paints an engaging portrait of a community learning how to take care of its own, and offers inspiration for others looking to do the same.” —Amy Cortese, author of Locavesting In towns and cities across North America, a quiet revolution is underway. Fed up with sending their money off to make a fast buck in faraway markets, people are putting their money to work where they live, in markets they trust and understand—starting with food. Financing Our Foodshed is a collection of real-life stories of these Slow Money pioneers and the local food entrepreneurs—sustainable farmers, bakers, restaurateurs, and more—they have chosen to support. Fueled by their desire to do more than just eat local food, lenders of “nurture capital” are making low-interest, peer-to-peer loans to the people who produce, process, distribute and sell local food. Meet these passionate food entrepreneurs like: Abi, talented artist-turned-baker, who borrowed the funds to start a gluten-free bakery Angelina, owner of a Greek local foods restaurant, who refinanced exorbitant credit card debt incurred by renovations Chatham Marketplace, a much-loved grocery co-op whose monthly loan payments were reduced by a third, thanks to an ambitious collaboration between 16 investors Financing Our Foodshed tells the compelling stories of ordinary people doing something extraordinary, and will appeal to anyone who understands the critical importance of sustainably grown local food and resilient local economies, and wants a blueprint to get us there. “For anyone seriously interested in boosting his or her community’s economy—including politicians, policymakers, financiers, businesspeople, and activists—this book is essential reading.” —Michael H. Shuman, author of Put Your Money Where Your Life Is
This collection of original essays explores money and its social dynamic in eight different Melanesian communities in order to determine why the people of Melanesia continue to use traditional kinds of currency, such as shells, alongside more modern types. When the answer to this question is examined in relation to the use of money in other countries, an entirely new model for thinking about money develops.
“Read this book. It explains so much about the moment...Beautiful, heartbreaking work.” —Ta-Nehisi Coates “A deep accounting of how America got to a point where a median white family has 13 times more wealth than the median black family.” —The Atlantic “Extraordinary...Baradaran focuses on a part of the American story that’s often ignored: the way African Americans were locked out of the financial engines that create wealth in America.” —Ezra Klein When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863, the black community owned less than 1 percent of the total wealth in America. More than 150 years later, that number has barely budged. The Color of Money seeks to explain the stubborn persistence of this racial wealth gap by focusing on the generators of wealth in the black community: black banks. With the civil rights movement in full swing, President Nixon promoted “black capitalism,” a plan to support black banks and minority-owned businesses. But the catch-22 of black banking is that the very institutions needed to help communities escape the deep poverty caused by discrimination and segregation inevitably became victims of that same poverty. In this timely and eye-opening account, Baradaran challenges the long-standing belief that black communities could ever really hope to accumulate wealth in a segregated economy. “Black capitalism has not improved the economic lives of black people, and Baradaran deftly explains the reasons why.” —Los Angeles Review of Books “A must read for anyone interested in closing America’s racial wealth gap.” —Black Perspectives
This guidance note was prepared by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group staff under a project undertaken with the support of grants from the Financial Sector Reform and Strengthening Initiative, (FIRST).The aim of the project was to deliver a report that provides emerging market and developing economies with guidance and a roadmap in developing their local currency bond markets (LCBMs). This note will also inform technical assistance missions in advising authorities on the formulation of policies to deepen LCBMs.
