Local Economy

Branding Tradition: A Bittersweet Tale Of Capitalism At Work

February 10, 2016 Steven Gorelick, www.localfutures.org Organize! Creative Economy, Local Economy, Vermont

By Steven Gorelick for Local Futures - Expensive labor-saving technologies not only make it difficult for small producers to survive, they also reduce the number of jobs available among those that remain. It’s true that 24 jobs have been created in Island Pond by the Sweet Tree operation; but 100,000 taps divided among numerous small-scale operations would provide livelihoods for 5 to 10 times as many people. The local economic benefits would also be far greater: the profits from Sweet Tree’s operation will be siphoned into investment portfolios in Connecticut, while the profits from those smaller producers would circulate locally.

Newsletter: Looking Back And Ahead

December 27, 2015 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.popularresistance.org Newsletter Black Lives Matter (BLM), Climate Change, Elections, Local Economy, New Economy, Podemos, Racism, TPP, Venezuela

By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese for Popular Resistance. As we look back over 2015, we see progress and, as we look forward to 2016, we see continued challenges ahead. Overall, the strategic path of resisting harmful policies and practices and building alternative systems to replace the current dysfunctional ones, known as 'stop the machine, create a new world,' is being taken by a growing number of people. The movement continues to grow on multiple fronts and is unifying around issues, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that impact us all. We are on our way to the 3.5% of activated people necessary to defeat the plutocracy, but there is still much to do. And we must be prepared to face even more difficult times before we break through the current paradigm and transform our economic, social and political systems.

Join The Buycott For Trade Justice

December 8, 2015 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org Create! Fair Trade, Local Economy, TISA, TPP, Trade, TTIP

By Flush the TPP. If they become law, international treaties like the TransPacific Partnership (TPP), TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Trade-in-Services Agreement (TISA) will fundamentally alter the global economy and global governance in a way that further empowers transnational corporations while decreasing the power of nation-states and people. These treaties will create a permanent path that makes corporate profit more important than the needs of people and protection of the planet. They will drive a global race to the bottom in wages and worker rights, food safety, internet freedom, access to health care, protection of the environment and more. It is up to us to organize and build power to stop the race to the bottom in its tracks! The Buycott is a tactic that people all over the world can use. It is not only a form of resistance, of non-cooperation, but it is also a way to create the necessary alternative – trade that lifts communities up and protects the planet as a first priority.

Find Banks That Invest In The Local Economy

October 24, 2015 Olivia LaVecchia, www.ilsr.org Create! Banks, Local Economy

By Olivia LaVecchia for ILSR - The reasons to choose a community bank or credit union range from getting the same services at a lower cost to supporting productive investment instead of speculative trading. But while it’s one thing to think about the qualities that are important in our banks, it’s another to find particular local banks that are enacting them. A new tool, called Bank Local, aims to make that process easier. Bank Local maps every banking institution in the U.S., and uses data from three federal agencies, plus its own algorithm, to assign them a Local Impact Rating.

Wine ‘Goliath’ Bullies ‘David’ Egg Seller

August 9, 2015 Shepherd Bliss, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Big Ag, Environment, Food and Agriculture, Local Economy, Sustainability

By Shepherd Bliss. Sonoma County, CA - It’s a classic Goliath vs. David story, with Sonoma County’s powerful wine industry as Goliath. Their high-paid lobbyists and marketers re-branded this region from our cherished, natural “Redwood Empire” to their commercial “Wine Country.” Goliath hoards more than its fair share of water, agricultural land, and road space. These wine barons run a Wine Empire that colonizes food farms and usurps natural resources. Wise Acre is a local David. Most wineries here are owned by large corporate investors from Wall Street and outside the US. “The Myth of the Family Winery: Global Corporations Behind California Wine,” published by the Marin Institute, documents this. A few alcohol companies own most of the wine production here.

Municipal Broadband & The Fight For Local Internet

February 11, 2015 Jeff Milchen, www.commondreams.org Create! FCC, Internet, Local Economy, Net Neutrality

A large and growing portion of small businesses rely on a high-quality Internet connection for essential operations, but lack of competition and choice among broadband providers has forced many businesses -- and most Americans -- to choose between inferior service or exorbitant prices. Federal Communications Chair Tom Wheeler says the vast majority of the country has only a company providing Internet access above 25 Mbps, what he called “table stakes” for today’s economy. Often responding to local business concerns, many local governments have been investing in fiber optic networks or partnering with independent firms to create real choice among Internet providers.

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