Two Cheers for the JOBS Act

For nearly a century local investing has been essentially illegal, and Wall Street has monopolized all the investment options for the average investor. Thanks to the JOBS Act that President Barack Obama recently signed into law, local investing in job-creating small businesses is now legal.

Strengthening Local Economies: Michael Shuman on Investing in Small Businesses – web event

Not even 1 percent of Americans’ long-term savings are invested locally, largely because it’s just not possible under the current system. But what would our towns look like if a larger fraction of this $30 trillion were in local economies?

10 Reasons for Financial Optimism (If You Invest Locally)

Even though these are tough times for tens of millions of Americans, there’s reason for hope. That’s the message of my new book from Chelsea Green, Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity, which showcases dozens of ways individuals, businesses and communities are reinvesting their money locally and creating new jobs. To give you a little taste of what’s in the book, let me share my Top 10 Reasons for Optimism.