Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity
5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
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.
Michael Shuman
Michael H. Shuman is an economist, attorney, author, and entrepreneur, and a globally recognized expert on community economics. He is one of the architects of the crowdfunding JOBS Act signed into law by President Obama in April 2012. He’s a fellow at Cutting Edge Capital and Post Carbon Institute and a founding board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He teaches economic development at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He has authored or coauthored nine books, including Local Dollars, Local Sense; The Small Mart Revolution; and Going Local. Shuman has performed leakage analyses and related economic development planning in more than ten states and has analyzed opportunities for food localization for several states, cities, counties, and regions across the nation. He has given an average of more than one invited talk per week, mostly to local governments and universities, for thirty years—in fortyseven states and eight countries. He has appeared on numerous television and radio shows, such as The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and NPR's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered, and has written nearly one hundred articles for such periodicals as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Parade Magazine, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Previously, he has been a W.K. Kellogg National Leadership fellow. He is also a member of both the State Bar of California and the District of Columbia Bar, and he lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his two children.
Related to Local Dollars, Local Sense
Related ebooks
The Local Economy Solution: How Innovative, Self-Financing "Pollinator" Enterprises Can Grow Jobs and Prosperity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dare to Care: A Love-Based Foundation for Money and Finance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeepening Community: Finding Joy Together in Chaotic Times Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose of Capital: Elements of Impact, Financial Flows, and Natural Being Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBetter Capitalism: Jesus, Adam Smith, Ayn Rand, and MLK Jr. on Moving from Plantation to Partnership Economics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Resilience Imperative: Cooperative Transitions to a Steady-State Economy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Small-Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Take Heart, Take Action: The Transformative Power of Small Acts, Groups, and Gardens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Next Economy MBA: Redesigning Business for the Benefit of All Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Memo: Five Rules for Your Economic Liberation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Better World Handbook: Small Changes That Make A Big Difference Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Better World is Possible Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Community Economic Development Handbook: Strategies and Tools to Revitalize Your Neighborhood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscience of Business to Help Save the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Clean Money Revolution: Reinventing Power, Purpose, and Capitalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebooting Local Economies: How to Build Prosperous Communities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGeneration Hope: How Inclusive Economics Can Help Us All Thrive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Impact: Six Patterns to Spread Your Social Innovation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Owning Our Future: The Emerging Ownership Revolution Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInvest Like You Give a Damn: Make Money, Change the World, Sleep Well at Night Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow the Poor Can Save Capitalism: Rebuilding the Path to the Middle Class Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Natural Capitalism: Unleashing Profit from Sustainability Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Personal Finance For You
Set for Life: An All-Out Approach to Early Financial Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of I Will Teach You To Be Rich: by Ramit Sethi | Includes Analysis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity and Living a Good Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Millionaire Next Door Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Summary of The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rich Dad Poor Dad Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles: Life and Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Money Hacks: 275+ Ways to Decrease Spending, Increase Savings, and Make Your Money Work for You! Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Money Answer Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legal Loopholes: Credit Repair Tactics Exposed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Happy Pocket Full of Money, Expanded Study Edition: Infinite Wealth and Abundance in the Here and Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Get the Hell Out of Debt: The Proven 3-Phase Method That Will Radically Shift Your Relationship to Money Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom: Build Wealth, Retire Early, and Live the Life of Your Dreams Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bad with Money: The Imperfect Art of Getting Your Financial Sh*t Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Investing For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Millionaire Fastlane: Crack the Code to Wealth and Live Rich for a Lifetime Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Die With Zero: Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed: The Definitive Book on Value Investing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Summary of R. Nelson Nash's Becoming Your Own Banker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Reviews for Local Dollars, Local Sense
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A good way to achieve real prosperity in America is to invest money in local businesses, instead of the multi-national conglomerates of this world. This book shows some ways to do it.First of all, forget about the usual method, that of buying shares in a local store. The vast majority of investors are "unaccredited," and for a local store to legally offer shares to the public requires an accountant, a lawyer, and several thousand dollars in expenses. A way around that is for the business owner to, for instance, offer a $100 gift card for sale to the public. The buyer then gets $125 in goods or services on that card. The business owner gets extra money coming in, and the customer gets something extra for their "investment."The average Mega-Bank is getting less and less interested in approving a loan for someone who wants to start a business. They would much rather put their money in a higher-risk investment that offers a higher rate of return (credit default swaps, anyone?). Depositors should consider moving their money to a community bank or credit union, which is where loan-seekers should go for a loan. These are institutions where the head office is in your town, or a neighboring town, instead of a neighboring stsate. They will be much more interested in helping local businesses, and treating depositors and loan seekers as more than just a number.Consider resurrecting regional stock exchanges, which would trade only companies from that state or region. Consider changing the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) rules, to make it easier for smaller companies to sell shares to the public, and make it easier for the average person to buy those shares. If you do nothing else, invest in yourself. Pay off your credit cards, pay down your mortgage as fast as possible, consider going (or going back) to school, to increase your available skills as much as possible, and consider a DIY retirement fund.This will certainly change perceptions about finance. It is easy to read, and gives a number of ways to keep your money in your town (where it belongs).