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

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

by Amy Cortese
Released June 2011
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9780470911389

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Book description

How individuals and communities can profit from local investing

In the wake of the financial crisis, investors are faced with a stark choice: entrust their hard-earned dollars to the Wall Street casino, or settle for anemic interest rates on savings, bonds, and CDs. Meanwhile, small businesses are being starved for the credit and capital they need to grow. There's got to be a better way.

In Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from It, Amy Cortese takes us inside the local investing movement, where solutions to some of the nation's most pressing problems are taking shape. The idea is that, by investing in local businesses, rather than faceless conglomerates, investors can earn profits while building healthy, self-reliant communities.

  • Introduces you to the ideas and pioneers behind the local investing movement

  • Profiles the people and communities who are putting their money to work in their own backyards and taking control of their destinies

  • Explores innovative investment strategies, from community capital and crowdfunding to local stock exchanges

With confidence in Wall Street and the government badly shaken, Americans are looking for alternatives. Local investing offers a way to rebuild our nest eggs, communities, and, just perhaps, our country.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Contents
  3. Title
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Preface: Starting Anew
  7. Introduction: Cereal Milk for the Gods
  8. Part One: The Economics of Local
    1. Chapter 1: Motherhood, Apple Pie, and Political Theatre
      1. Sticking Up for the Local Butcher
      2. A Growing Capital Gap
      3. Left Behind
      4. A Massive Market Failure
      5. Postcards from the Edge
    2. Chapter 2: Blue Skies, Pipe Dreams, and the Lure of Easy Money
      1. Two Tiers of Investors
      2. Modern-Day Blue Sky Merchants
      3. How Wall Street Ate the Economy
      4. A Return to Value
    3. Chapter 3: Buy Local, Eat Local . . . Invest Local
      1. The Case for Locavesting
      2. Local Is a Growth Business
      3. Familiarity
      4. Local Companies Are Profitable
      5. Local Companies Are Less Risky Than You Might Think
      6. Diversification
      7. A Grassroots Movement
      8. The Local Multiplier
      9. Shifting Fortunes
    4. Chapter 4: The Local Imperative
      1. Give Darwin a Chance
      2. The Big-Box Squeeze
      3. The Price of Power
      4. Rethinking Old Habits
  9. Part Two: Experiments in Citizen Finance
    1. Chapter 5: The Last Real Banker?
      1. If You’re Served a Lousy Burger, You Don’t Have to Eat It
      2. Move Your Money
      3. A Threatened Model
      4. Wall Street on the Missouri
    2. Chapter 6: The Biggest-Impact Financial Sector You’ve Never Heard Of
      1. Helping Entrepreneurs “Buy the Pond”
      2. Taking the Middle Path in New Hampshire
      3. Big Opportunities, Less Capital
      4. Individual Investors Play a Bigger Role
      5. A CD—With Benefits
    3. Chapter 7: A Model to LIONize
      1. Keeping Money Local
      2. No Defaults, but Plenty of Cheese
      3. Small Is Beautiful
    4. Chapter 8: Community Capital
      1. Bookworms in Shining Armor
      2. A Rich Community
      3. Indie Revival
      4. A Store to Call Your Own
      5. A Community Revitalization Project Masquerading as a Diner
      6. Community-Supported Everything
    5. Chapter 9: Pennies from Many
      1. Banking with Neighbors
      2. From Patronage to Profits
      3. Growing Pains
      4. P2P Goes Global
      5. A “Kiva for Equity”
      6. Can You Create the Next Google in Increments of $100?
      7. Shave Ice and Crack Seed
    6. Chapter 10: Slow Money
      1. One Percent for Local Food
      2. A New Generation of Food Entrepreneurs
      3. A Dairy Farmer’s Financial Education
      4. Building A Premier Brand
    7. Chapter 11: From Brown Rice to Biofuels
      1. A Natural Loop
      2. A Quiet Force
      3. Valley of the Co-ops
      4. The New Pioneers
      5. A Multi-Stakeholder Approach
      6. The Un-Casino
      7. Casting a Wider Net
    8. Chapter 12: The Do-It-Yourself Public Offering
      1. Getting in on the Ground Floor
      2. A Brewing Revolution
      3. DPO Revival
      4. Social(ist) Networking
      5. In Search of Liquidity
    9. Chapter 13: Back to the Future
      1. The Incredible Shrinking IPO Market
      2. The Wild, Wild West
      3. Reengaging the Market
      4. A Working Model
      5. DPO + Local Exchange = Game Changer
      6. Alternative Markets
  10. Conclusion
  11. Notes
  12. Acknowledgments
  13. Index

Product information

  • Title: Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from it
  • Author(s): Amy Cortese
  • Release date: June 2011
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9780470911389