My Blog

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

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

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

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,

  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

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

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