issuesComplex, interconnected issues must be dealt with rapidly and effectively if we are to achieve a resilient future.
explore the issues
support pci
Rivers for Life
Michael Shuman is Director of Research and Public Policy at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). He holds an A.B. with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. Michael has authored, coauthored, or edited seven books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (1998). The Small-Mart Revolution was awarded a bronze medal for best business book by the Independent Publishers' Association.
In recent years, Michael has led community-based economic-development efforts in St. Lawrence County (NY), Hudson Valley (NY), Katahdin Region (ME), Martha's Vineyard (MA), and Carbondale (CO), and served as a senior editor for the recently published Encyclopedia of Community. He has given an average of more than one invited talk per week for 25 years throughout the United States and the world.
In this talk, Post Carbon Fellow Michael Shuman presents the idea of a stimulus package in local stock exchange. The key goals are to transform local businesses in small-stock companies and to create modest, intrastate electronic exchanges. With these simple and sensible legal reforms it could correct this market failure and bring literally trillions of new investment dollars into our communities.
What has changed in the economy to cause such a surge in the number of microbusinesses that are staying micro over the last decade or so?
Why, if there is so much evidence that microbusiness development work better than smoke stack chasing, do policy makers and economists still dismiss the smallest of businesses?
What could President Obama do that would be a better use of taxpayer dollars than throwing them at huge corporations?
These are some of the questions explored in this interview with Post Carbon Fellow Michael Shuman.
[Excerpt] It's time to connect the headlines between persistent unemployment in the United States and growing food insecurity. The next Obama stimulus package should focus on how local food can address both simultaneously. A … >>
Defenders of globalization, free markets, and free trade insist there’s no alternative to mega-stores like Wal-Mart — Michael Shuman begs to differ. In The Small-Mart Revolution, Shuman makes a compelling case for … >>
Post Carbon Fellow Michael Shuman's recent address to members of Lowcountry Local First was reported in the Charleston Post and Courier. From the article: Government incentives for jobs and economic development … >>
Post Carbon Fellow Bill McKibben and Executive Director Asher Miller discuss Bill's new book Eaarth, and the 350.org campaign.
view video
what is pci?Founded in 2003, Post Carbon Institute is leading the transition to a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute has gathered 29 of the world's leading experts on a wide range of interdependent social and scientific issues.
learn more
share your story
more pci people
press contact info