Outside In with Michael Shuman and Stephanie Mills

By Michael Shuman, originally published by Investigating Resilience

October 21, 2011

Stephanie Mills returns with another of her colleagues from the Post Carbon Institute, Michael Shuman. Shuman is author of a number of books on developing local economies, including The Small-Mart Revolution and Going Local, and the forthcoming book Local Dollars Local Sense. the Research & Economic Development Director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). The discussion outlines the new economic era we are entering and why it is likely that local economies will win out over the globalized and fragile world economy. The period of transition will not be easy. Here in Michigan especially we need to learn a new way of investment so that local investors can invest in their local economy. As Shuman points out, little help can be expected from Lansing or Washington as government is still looking to the old economic order for answers.

Michael Shuman

Michael Shuman is director of research for Cutting Edge Capital, director of research and economic development at the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), and a Fellow of Post Carbon Institute. He holds an AB with distinction in economics and international relations from Stanford University and a JD from Stanford Law School. He has led community-based economic-development efforts across the country and has authored or edited seven previous books, including The Small Mart Revolution: How Local Businesses Are Beating the Global Competition (2006) and Going Local: Creating Self-Reliant Communities in the Global Age (1998).

In recent years, Michael has led community-based economic-development efforts in St. Lawrence County (NY), Hudson Valley (NY), Katahdin Region (ME), Martha’s Vineyard (MA), and Carbondale (CO), and served as a senior editor for the recently published Encyclopedia of Community. He has given an average of more than one invited talk per week for 25 years throughout the United States and the world.

Request an interview
Request as a speaker
View Michael’s speaking terms.

Tags: local investing

Toy shop

The Cathedral of Plastic: How We Manufactured a Year of Excess

By Saskia Karges, Resilience.org

We need our autonomy back. And that starts with walking out of the toy store empty-handed and realizing that the most resilient thing we can give the next generation isn’t a piece of plastic - it’s a planet that isn’t a graveyard for their old toys.

March 2, 2026

Climate Strike march

The Youth Movement in a Post-Growth World

By Adel Ramdani, Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy

We need all hands on deck to ideate new ways to equip the Youth Movement with a holistic, radical approach. To generate systemic change, young activists must be brave in their criticism of capitalism and growth. Unfortunately, they must also get comfortable with doubt, not knowing exactly what tomorrow will look like.

February 24, 2026

Ward Manor dorm

We All Need To Go To Business School

By Michael Shuman, The Main Street Journal

Ten years ago, I started teaching at Bard’s Green MBA Program, where I now teach classes in economics, economic development, community investment funds, and “sustaining mission.” And what I can report is that the several hundred students I taught have created, run, or improved an amazing assortment of mission-oriented enterprises.

February 19, 2026