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Is the Local Economy the Solution to a Post-Capitalist World?

October 5, 2015

Is the Local Economy the Solution to a Post-Capitalist World?

In his new book, Michael Shuman debunks many of the myths around economic development.

Think local. Buy local. Support your local community. Community investment.

This all makes sense, right? Right. Then why do so many government-funded economic development programs get this wrong?

According to community economics advocate Michael Shuman, mainstream economic development today is a scam. States and local government agencies spend big money to lure corporations to their region but do little to stimulate the local economy or support local businesses. And those small businesses, not the chain stores, are often what give a neighborhood its unique identity and make it desirable to live in.

In his new book, The Local Economy Solution: How Innovative Self-Financing “Pollinator” Enterprises Can Grow Jobs and Prosperity (Chelsea Green, June 2015), Shuman debunks many of the myths around economic development—that tax breaks for wealthy corporations are beneficial for all, that only big businesses create jobs, that consumers only care about price, and that social enterprises can’t be self-financing.

Shuman, who has been a leader in the local economy movement for more than two decades, proposes low-cost pollinator businesses to stimulate the local economy through small business development. He defines a pollinator as a self-financing business with a mission of supporting other local businesses.

Pollinators lead to more dollars spent within that community, and often favor a triple bottom lineapproach that makes a connection between the three Ps: people, planet and profits.

Unlike impersonal chain stores, local pollinator businesses foster more connection between consumers and retailers, food growers and customers, and businesses and their employees, resulting in a healthier, more equitable community, which translates into safer neighborhoods that can weather economic fluctuations.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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