michael shuman 
Let’s stipulate upfront that there’s nothing to celebrate about a pandemic. The damage COVID-19 is wreaking—in terms of deaths, sickness, business closures, unemployment, and misery—is incalculable. But this crisis is changing the world in subtle ways that may ultimately improve our lives. So…in the spirit of Winston Churchill, who once implored not to let a …
Thanks for dropping by. Chances are you “surfed” here because you are interested in local economies. And that’s the core of what you’ll find on this site: news, events, books, studies, legislation, people, conferences, and trends concerning local economies. This is a place for anyone who believes in the power of local ownership, locally owned …
Over the coming weeks, the long-awaited green light from the Securities Exchange Commission will usher in a new era of crowdfunding in the United States. But a surprising new development in the field is that many companies may turn to crowdfunding, not just for to raise capital, but to raise their profile. My friend Jason …
This past November one of three Sveriges Riksbank Prizes in Economic Sciences went the Professor Robert Shiller of Yale. After years of giving its award to various University of Chicago Neanderthals, the Nobel Prize Committee finally made an inspired choice, picking a scholar whose work has shown that the returns from mainstream stock markets have …
Over the past year probably a dozen current or aspiring state legislators have asked me for advice on what kinds of legislation they might advocate that could support local living economies. While there’s a long list that comes to mind, here are my top ten items. (I’ve excluded from this reforms related to community capital …
I’m pleased to report that crowdfunding reform has just reached an important milestone in the state where I live—Maryland. Legislation just passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Marty O’Malley now allows every Maryland resident to lend up to $100 to any local business with virtually no legal hassles whatsoever. The fact …
Last week, I gave a lunchtime talk to the board of the Fresh Sound Foundation in New York City, where I was asked to help this small family philanthropy think about how it could best assist the local economy movement. I thought this was a really interesting question, because depending on one’s perspective, it meant …
One of the most influential drivers of localization worldwide is the Transition Towns movement, launched by Rob Hopkins in the United Kingdom, which has inspired initiatives in literally thousands of communities. “The Transition Network,” according to its web site, “is a charitable organisation whose role is to inspire, encourage, connect, support and train communities as …
A basic mantra of progressive economic development should be to deploy public land for public purposes. This has become clear to me as I’ve watched the nearby City of Takoma Park, Maryland, struggle to move ahead on a controversial development project on a 1.4 acre site called Takoma Junction. The site is largely undeveloped except that the neighboring …
The analysis I summarized in the previous blog post generated numerous responses from the public, the City, and the developer. One central theme of the responses has been skepticism over my contention that the City is subsidizing the developer, NDC. What follows are my further comments on the debate for the Takoma Park City Council: …
