One in Four Local Banks Has Vanished Since 2008. Why We Should Treat It as a National Crisis
While megabanks make megabucks, local banks are financing businesses that create jobs and improve well-being. So why are they disappearing so rapidly?
大象传媒 Article archive
Economy
Is the Local Economy Too Local? Why Co-Ops and Credit Unions Need a Broader Strategy
Author and activist Gar Alperovitz calls it a 鈥渃heckerboard strategy.鈥� In the first piece in a series, we look at the organizations working to transform our economy, and how they can benefit from working together.
Food Stamps Are Worth Double at These Michigan Farmers Markets鈥擧elping Families and Local Businesses
The USDA is putting $31 million behind a program that helps low-income families take home twice the veggies, and local farmers make twice the money.
A Trade Rule that Makes It Illegal to Favor Local Business? Newest Leak Shows TPP Would Do That And More
The leaked text is full of dense legal jargon. But a close reading makes its corporate agenda crystal clear.
What If Uber Were a Unionized, Worker-Owned Co-Op? These Denver Cabbies Are Making It Happen
Workers at app-driven companies like Uber don鈥檛 have the rights of full employees. But with the help of traditional unions, some are banding together into worker-owned cooperatives.
How to Become a Citizen Eater: A Trip Behind the Labels of Your Ethical Cup of Coffee
Labels like "fair trade" and "direct trade" indicate food is ethically sourced鈥攂ut how do you know what they really mean, and whether they're effective?
A March Madness Makeover: 5 Ways to Bring Fairness Into College Basketball
March Madness is now a bigger cash cow than the Super Bowl, but in college sports the only people not getting a piece of the billion-dollar pie are the players.
Alternative Currencies Are Bigger Than Bitcoin: How They鈥檙e Building Prosperity From London to Kenya
The Brixton Pound, Koru Kenya, and Mazacoin are all attempting to achieve a common goal: empowering people in a monetarily unequal world, from the bottom up.
Do Corporations Really Need More Rights? Why Fast Track for the TPP Is a Bad Idea
We can have democracy and a prosperous, just, and sustainable human future. Or we can have corporate rule. We cannot have both.
Craigslist Saved 5M Tons of Stuff From Landfills鈥擜nd 4 Other New Stats on Local Economies
Exactly how much difference do 鈥渘ew economy鈥� organizations make? Economists looked into it, and here are a few of their results.
What鈥檚 the True Impact of the Alternative Economy? Researchers Decide It鈥檚 Time to Find Out
Successful initiatives are investing in human relationships, not faceless call centers or centralized headquarters.
These Cities Built Cheap, Fast, Community-Owned Broadband. Here’s What Net Neutrality Means For Them
Publicly owned broadband lets local communities from Iowa to Louisiana control a vital economic resource鈥攔ather than leaving it in the hands of a few monopolistic corporations. The outcome of this week's FCC vote could either help or hinder the path forward.
Students for Economic Pluralism, Unite! How College Kids Are Taking on the 鈥淗igh Priests鈥� of Money
After years of work as a climate activist, Keith Harrington decided to get a degree in economics. Now, he鈥檚 working to transform the field.
Local Food With a Big Twist: Oregon Super-Cooperative Takes Aim at the Corporate Food System
This co-op south of Portland wants to strengthen the local food system by helping local farmers cooperate instead of compete with one another.
Community-Owned Energy: How Nebraska Became the Only State to Bring Everyone Power From a Public Grid
In this red state, publicly owned utilities provide electricity to all 1.8 million people. Here's how Nebraska took its energy out of corporate hands and made it affordable for everyday residents.
Forget Venture Capitalists鈥擳his Scrappy Composting Co-Op Found Another Way to Get Startup Money
The banking system makes it tough for local businesses to get their hands on startup money. But creative entrepreneurs are finding solutions.
Six Ways the US Is Building a People-Powered Economy
Alternative business models such as worker-owned cooperatives are gaining ground, proving that a more just and sustainable future is possible.
This Rust-Belt Town鈥檚 Survival Strategy Is All About Giving Workers Control
Reading is one of Pennsylvania鈥檚 poorest cities. Can its residents turn things around by building a more democratic economy?
Vermonters Lobby for Public Bank鈥擜nd Win Millions for Local Investment Instead
Advocates didn鈥檛 get the public bank they wanted. But the compromise they reached in the end was still a rare and significant win over Wall Street banks.
Laid-Off Baltimore Workers Beat Disney in Court鈥擜nd Ask All the Right Questions About Urban Development
By some estimates, the city of Baltimore has sunk more than $1.5 billion into its Inner Harbor. Workers and residents want their share too.
Owning Together Is the New Sharing
Companies and startups are aspiring toward an economy, and an Internet, that is more fully ours with the use of cooperatives, "commons-based peer production," and cryptocurrencies.
Neighbors Helped This Immigrant-Owned Dry Cleaner in Boston Go Nontoxic鈥攁nd Stay in Business
Organizations that aim to reduce the use of toxic chemicals have long focused on shutting down offending businesses. But this story from Boston shows another way.
8 Main Street Job Creators Who Are Rebooting the Economy鈥擲tarting with Those Who Need It Most
From the Deep South to the West Coast, these entrepreneurs are making sure jobs and dollars grow鈥攁nd stay鈥攊n places hardest hit by hurricanes, poverty, and gentrification.
How the U.S. Government Could End the Student Debt Crisis Today
Instead of loaning students money, the federal government could just pay for their tuition, without causing any significant economic problems.
Land, Co-ops, Compost: A Local Food Economy Emerges in Boston’s Poorest Neighborhoods
From kitchens that buy and sell locally grown food, to a waste co-op that will return compost to the land, new enterprises are building an integrated food network. It's about local people keeping the wealth of their land at home.
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