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
December 22, 2008
Collectively the Schumacher Lecture pamphlets provide a blueprint for practical action in shaping a sustainable future. The voices of Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, Jane Jacobs, Hazel Henderson, Arthur Zajonc, Thomas Berry, Judy Wicks, John Todd, and the other stellar Schumacher lecturers speak for the best of the present generation as it prepares to meet the … Continued
December 12, 2008
Joseph A. Stanislaw has spent his career concerned about the future of energy production and consumption. The J.A. Stanislaw Group specializes in strategic thinking and investment in energy and technology, advising industry and governments as they set energy policy. Deeply influenced by the writings of E. F. Schumacher, Mr. Stanislaw has authored several papers on … Continued
December 1, 2008
John Fullerton described the current financial collapse in his May 2008 essay “The Relevance of E. F. Schumacher in the 21st Century.” It now seems prophetic. In the same article he warned us not to look to the tweaking of current economic systems to solve our problems, but rather to reach to the teachings of … Continued
September 6, 2008
If our common interest is to build more independent regions and their unique regional cultures, then part of that effort will be to build more independent regional economies—ones in which the goods consumed locally are produced locally. In her Cities and the Wealth of Nations, the late Jane Jacobs brilliantly argues that the best strategy … Continued