October 1, 2007
Instead of a nation that manufactures its own goods, the United States has become a nation of service providers, moving production “off shore” and relying on fossil fuel to transport its goods over long distances—an increasingly fragile supply line whether judged from an ecological, social, economic, or political point of view. While exporting jobs, we … Continued
September 1, 2007
Since its launch in September of 2006, one million fifty-nine thousand BerkShares have been placed in circulation through participating BerkShare banks. This means that citizens have exchanged over $953,000 for BerkShares. BerkShares are returned to the banks when businesses find they have too many to use for their own purchases. A net amount continues out in circulation, … Continued
September 1, 2007
Every year the Annual E. F. Schumacher Lectures are an opportunity to bring together visionary thinkers and further consider our course as individuals and as a community. The all day event draws together Schumacher members and friends for a celebration of shared vision, common fellowship, and the shaping of practical responses to our most pressing … Continued
August 1, 2007
Stacy Mitchell’s 2006 E. F. Schumacher Lecture ends with the encouraging news that the decline of local enterprise is by no means inevitable. Implemented broadly the initiatives supporting locally owned businesses springing up all over the country have the capability of ushering out the handful of global corporations that have colonized our communities and replacing … Continued
July 30, 2007
On July 15th, BerkShares held a Bash to celebrate the one millionth BerkShare placed in circulation through ten local participating banks. Forty-seven BerkShare businesses exhibited, bands sang and played, Roger the Jester delighted children—all part of a community picnic on the lawns of the historic Searles Castle at the heart of Great Barrington. Rain shortened … Continued
June 22, 2007
On Tuesday Yahoo.com headlined a Reuters News Service article about BerkShares, creating a stream of media and internet discussion on local currencies in general and BerkShares in particular. You can read and view some of the international coverage at www.berkshares.org. By July one million BerkShares will have been issued through local banks to Berkshire residents … Continued
June 1, 2007
The story of land is older than the story of man. Land came first; no man created it. Every society, large or small, must devise ways in which its members will share this gift. This is allocation. Members of society must also determine under what conditions the land will be passed on to the next … Continued
May 12, 2007
As the world passes peak oil production we will again be “subject to the net-energy principle: it takes energy to get energy from the environment, and costs have to be subtracted from gross yields.” Richard Heinberg, in his 2006 Schumacher Center lecture, says “we’ve been living on virtually free energy for the past two hundred … Continued
April 2, 2007
The cover story for the current issue of Time magazine (April 9, 2007) presents a fifty-one point “Global Warming Survival Guide.” Contributing authors outline steps that range from the simple act of using compact fluorescent light bulbs to the emerging science of geoengineering (earth-system-altering technology). All these steps make clear that a new vision of … Continued
April 1, 2007
Much of what Will Raap has done in his professional life directly results from his reading of Fritz Schumacher’s Small Is Beautiful in 1974 and subsequent meetings with the author. Raap synthesized these experiences into five strategies that have guided his working life: “Envision objectively where we are headed and determine overall whether this direction … Continued
February 1, 2007
Lowly, unpurposeful, and random as they may appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which a city’s wealth of public life may grow. —Jane Jacobs from “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. One of the features of BerkShares, the local currency circulating in the Southern Berkshire region of Massachusetts, is that it … Continued
December 1, 2006
It has been thirty-two years since Fritz Schumacher published the influential Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered. His message has not aged. He helped us understand the connection between economic policies and the health of the planet and suggested a new course of action to balance that relationship. His message was both a … Continued