Let’s have a show of hands. How many of you try to eat locally-grown food? OK – that’s a pretty good number. How many keep your money in local banks? Hmmm – not too many. Now – whose 401K is invested in local companies? Anybody? …Anybody?
You must be like the folks in northern Virginia who invited economist/lawyer/wonk/author Michael Shuman to come and speak. Shuman asked them the same questions and they answered the same way – and they call their group “Sustainable Reston”!
Well, it’s time to wake up and smell the money.
Shuman says dollars showered on local business grow the local economy. It’s like water runoff. If rain falls on lawns and gardens, it soaks into the ground and is sucked up by thirsty plants. But the rain that falls on hard surfaces like sidewalks and streets, runs down the drain, is shunted away, and the plants don’t stand a chance. Continue reading
