August 15, 2009
This Sunday, August 16th, 2009, would have been Fritz Schumacher’s 98th birthday. In honor of this occasion we have included a selection of our favorite quotes from Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered. Even thirty-five years after the publication of this text, one can see that Schumacher’s seminal collection of essays is filled … Continued
July 31, 2009
John McKnight’s 1984 Annual E. F. Schumacher Lecture “John Deere and the Bereavement Councilor” is one of the most circulated of a treasure of fine lectures. It describes the effects of the professionalization of social services on the fabric of community life. It calls for the trusting of our capacities as neighbors and friends to … Continued
June 23, 2009
by Judith Schwartz, June 2009, Yes! Magazine Visit Judith Schwartz’s Blog at http://litadventuresinpod.blogspot.com/ Local currencies value time, build community, and keep business moving even when credit dries up. Total dependence on one currency is like total dependence on one crop, or, for that matter, a single energy source: there’s always the risk that crop failure … Continued
June 23, 2009
by Judith D. Schwartz, June 11, 2009, TIME Visit Judith Schwartz’s Blog at http://litadventuresinpod.blogspot.com/ “Buy Local”—you see the decal in the store window, the sign at the farmer’s market, the bright, cheerful logos for Local First Arizona, Think Boise First, Our Milwaukee, and homegrown versions across the states. The apparent message is “let’s-support-local-business”, a kind of … Continued
June 20, 2009
Our economy is in transition. A new economic system must respond to the realities of climate change, collapsing financial markets, disparities in wealth, and industries too big to manage sustainably. Inspired by the writings of Fritz Schumacher, Jane Jacobs, Martin Buber, the Gandhian economist J.C. Kumarappa, and other decentralist economic thinkers, the Schumacher Center has … Continued
May 30, 2009
By Matthew Cardinale, Jun 19, 2009, Inter Press Services ATLANTA, (IPS/GIN) – In the face of an economic system in full crisis mode, a handful of communities across the U.S. and the globe have begun experimenting with alternative forms of local currency as a pathway to sustainability. Local currencies existing today in the U.S. include … Continued
May 26, 2009
Erick S. Hansch was a colleague of Robert Swann and Ralph Borsodi at the International Independence Institute. One of the projects of the Institute was the launch of a currency called “The Constant” in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1972. Borsodi, an economist, was in his 90’s at the time and decided to issue the currency … Continued
May 24, 2009
We are pleased to announce the speakers for the Twenty-Ninth Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures: Bill McKibben, Benjamin Barber, and Alisa Gravitz. The lectures are scheduled for October 17th in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us if you can. Acclaimed environmentalist, Bill McKibben, is author of The End of … Continued
April 14, 2009
The incomparable Hazel Henderson has been campaigning and strategizing for a green economy for the past forty years in her writings and talks, and at board and government tables. Her pioneering work has led to many of the programs we now take for granted in the socially and ecologically responsible investment field. She has worked … Continued
April 14, 2009
Woody Tasch, author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered, and Paolo DiCroce, Executive Director of Slow Food International, will share the stage at Time and Space Limited, in Hudson, NY, Friday, April 24th at 7PM. Paolo DiCroce will describe the latest successes and challenges the … Continued
March 1, 2009
Users of BerkShares have circulated over two million of the local currency in the Berkshire economy since launch in September of 2006. The success of this initial stage of the program has enabled a strategic adjustment to the exchange rate between BerkShares and U.S. dollars. Now, 100 BerkShares can be purchased for 95 federal dollars … Continued
January 29, 2009
“Economic life develops by grace of innovating; it expands by grace of import-replacement.” -from “Cities and the Wealth of Nations: Principles of Economic Life” by Jane Jacobs In October the Schumacher Center bought a house for staff and interns. It was not a simple transaction, rather a complex and marvelous adventure weaving our work lives … Continued