Locavesting : The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from It

by Cortese, Amy

• ISBN13: 9780470911389
• ISBN10: 0470911387
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-07
• Publisher: Wiley
• More Book Details
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Summary

We buy local and eat local. So why is it so hard to invest local? The truth is, our financial markets have evolved to serve big business, a fact only underscored by the recent financial crisis and bailout. Wall Street has come roaring back, but Main Street is fighting for its life. In catering to those companies deemed "too big too fail," we've created a new group that could be labeled "too small too succeed."Author Amy Cortese believes that by investing locally, in the companies that create jobs and healthy communities, we can begin to rebuild the economy and repair our tattered financial system Locavesting is a how- to guide for investing locally and explores the emerging phenomenon of 'locavesting' through narrative accounts of people like Dante Hess, Chris Lindstrom and Woody Tasch, who are the pioneers of this movement -- the Muhammad Yunus's of the capital markets. She also illustrates how, in many ways, locavesting is a return to the very roots of our economic system -- and our humanity. The book offers a totally fresh perspective on investing and explores powerful new ideas for making capitalism work again for the rest of us.

Author Biography

Amy Cortese is a journalist who has spent her career writing about business, finance, environmental issues and food, giving her a unique perspective on how these different realms are intricately linked. A former editor at BusinessWeek, her work has also appeared in the New York Times, the New York Times Magazine, the American, Mother Jones, Portfolio, Afar, TheDailyBeast.com, and many other publications. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Preface: Starting Anew	p. vii
Introduction: Cereal Milk for the Gods	p. xv
The Economics of Local	p. 1
Motherhood, Apple Pie, and Political Theatre	p. 3
How We Are Failing Our Small Businesses
Blue Skies, Pipe Dreams, and the Lure of Easy Money	p. 19
Our Financial Legacy and its Unintended Consequences
Buy Local, Eat Local … Invest Local	p. 31
Reconnecting Investors and Businesses
The Local Imperative	p. 47
Leveling the Playing Field
Experiments in Citizen Finance	p. 63
The Last Real Banker?	p. 65
Relationship Banking Is Not Dead - Yet
The Biggest-Impact Financial Sector You've Never Heard Of	p. 79
Community Development Loan Funds Reach Out to Individual Investors
A Model to LIONize	p. 95
How One Pacific Northwest Town Engineered a Quiet Revival
Community Capital	p. 105
It Takes a Village, or a Police Force, or Perhaps Some Farmers
Pennies from Many	p. 125
When Social Networking Met Finance
Slow Money	p. 147
Finance for Foodsheds
From Brown Rice to Biofuels	p. 159
Co-ops on the Cutting Edge
The Do-It-Yourself Public Offering	p. 181
The Allure of Public Venture Capital
Back to the Future	p. 199
The Rebirth of the Local Stock Exchange
Conclusion	p. 221
Notes	p. 227
Acknowledgments	p. 243
Index	p. 245
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.