Michael Shuman - Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity

PRAISE FOR LOCAL DOLLARS, LOCAL SENSE

There is no task more urgent facing this country than rebuilding local economies, and Michael Shuman knows this inside and out. This book should be required reading for Americans.

James Howard Kunstler , author of The Long Emergency and other books

This long-awaited book is a masterpiece and a field guide to a much-needed journey into creating the kind of economy our children will be happy to inherit. Future generations will praise Local Dollars, Local Sense as one of those seminal works that helped transform human societies.

John Perkins , author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman and Hoodwinked

Michael Shuman answers a lot of questions Ive always wondered about, and in the process paints a practical vision of exactly where we need to be headed in this country. Consider this book an excellent investment!

Bill McKibben , author of Eaarth and The End of Nature

Want something that makes sense amid the increasingly crazy world of global finance? Going local is it and Michael Shuman has been at the forefront of this cutting-edge thinking for more than a decade. He not only maps the emerging process of economic localization, but also gets down to the nitty gritty: the investment strategies and the financial practitioners who are making it real.

Woody Tasch , chairman, Slow Money; chairman emeritus, Investors Circle; and author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money

Brilliant and perfectly timed, Local Dollars, Local Sense enables us to transform worry and confusion about our personal finances, and the nations, into rewarding action. Shuman shows usin part with compelling storieshow investment choices are really exciting sources of power to achieve peace of mind for our families as we create thriving, democratic communities. I love this ground-breaking, liberating book!

Frances Moore Lapp , author of EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want

Where to invest your money in these uncertain times? Bring it home, advises Michael Shuman. But dont put it under the mattress! This smart and thoughtful book explains the many ways we can invest in our local economies to not only receive a more reliable return than the stock market casino can provide, but also to live in more self-reliant and joyful communities. Join the shift toward true prosperity. This book shows you how.

Judy Wicks , cofounder of Business Alliance for Local Living Economies

Local small businesses employ more people and respond to community needs better than big corporations dobut nearly all our investment dollars support Wall Street banks and huge companies. The path to local investing has been strewn with obstacles. Michael Shuman clears a path for us all, showing how local investing can help solve some of Americas biggest social, economic, environmental, and political problems. This is a book many of us have been waiting for.

Richard Heinberg , author of The End of Growth and Peak Everything

Prepare to rethink everything youve learned about investing! In this tour de force, Michael Shuman provides an eye-opening look at how local companies can trump market returns, and how legalized crowdfunding might do more for job creation than the failed policies of throwing taxpayer money at big corporations. The book abounds with examples of community investment that are helping to rebuild local economies, and provides a tantalizing glimpse of life beyond corporate capitalism.

Amy Cortese , author of Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from It

Local is the new g reen, because local encompasses the wholeness of real placesnature and people and the complex web of relationships among them. Living on an island, I have a special appreciation for local resilience. I know my community is my real security. My bank. The financial system makes it easy to invest in distant corporations and difficult to invest in our own neighbors start-ups and business expansions. Enter Michael Shuman and this wonderful book, Local Dollars, Local Sense . He outlines many practical innovations that can flow money back into the productivity and prosperity of the places we call home. With the growing interest in moving our money out of Wall Street and into Main Street, Michaels book provides a very welcome road map for local investing.

Vicki Robin , author of Your Money or Your Life

Changing the direction our money flows in away from the tax havens and the banks and toward the urgent rebuilding of community resilience at the local scale is one of our most pressing and urgent tasks. Michael Shuman inspires and equips us for this work with great vision and purpose.

Rob Hopkins , author of The Transition Companion and cofounder of the Transition Network

How can we secure our personal finances while simultaneously helping to rebuild our communities? Read this book and find out. Michael Shumans advice urgently needs to be heeded. Authoritative yet highly readable, Local Dollars, Local Sense illuminates the path toward a very different economy, providing practical advice that is more intensely relevant with every passing day.

Helena Norberg-Hodge , founder of International Society for Ecology and Culture; producer of The Economics of Happiness

Michael Shuman has done it again. In Local Dollars, Local Sense , he answers the central question of the era: How does capital get invested? Whether you are concerned with job creation, environmental destruction, immigration, public health, or education, this book will not only tell you why things are going wrong, it will tell you how we can make things right.

Kevin Danaher , cofounder of Global Exchange and Green Festivals

In an important and path-breaking work, Michael Shuman shows clearly and persuasively how to transform our nations financial system from a destructive engine for increasing economic inequality into a positive force for creating human well-being and community resilience.... Local Dollars, Local Sense must be required reading for every elected official in the country as well as all experts in finance and business from the academic and corporate worlds.

H. Thomas Johnson , professor of sustainability management, Portland State University, and author of Profit Beyond Measure

Copyright 2012 by Post Carbon Institute. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

Editor: Joni Praded

Developmental Editor: Daniel Lerch

Copy Editor: Laura Jorstad

Proofreader: Eileen Clawson

Indexer: Margaret Holloway

Designer: Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

Printed in the United States of America

First printing January, 2012

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Our Commitment to Green Publishing

Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because we use recycled paper, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative ( www.greenpressinitiative.org ), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. Local Dollars, Local Sense was printed on FSC-certified paper supplied by Thomson-Shore that contains at least 30 percent postconsumer recycled fiber.