Last night I went to a talk by Michael Shuman, author of SmallMart and a number of other books on building local economies. He had some fantastic arguments and ideas on why focusing on local economies is far better than focusing on globalization. Key pieces of his argument were items of which most people reading this site are already aware: Peak Oil, global warming, and collapse of the global economy. But he has a very fresh and nuanced view with some incredibly solid arguments that crush the hopes and assertions of even the most die-hard globalist. I intend to get his latest book in the near future so I can speak more intelligently on local economic issues.
This weekend Shuman is also hosting, in conjunction with the Yellow Springs Smart Growth committee (which contains a few Peak Oilers), a workshop focused on analyzing the "leakage" from the Yellow Springs local economy, brainstorming ways to refocus on the local economy, and building an executable plan for the community. I'm not able to attend but several friends of mine are. It's a very exciting prospect.
Shuman discussed last night that one key reason that locally-owned businesses are held at a disadvantage is that people can't invest their pensions locally due to obsolete securities laws. Apparently, he had conversations with the Obama transition team on Wednesday and they were very receptive to rewriting these laws. This could truly be a key piece of building post-Peak Oil economies and is very encouraging with regards to the Obama team's economic mindset. I'll be staying tuned.
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