Invest Local

Ep. 50 Vicinity HQ: The Myths and Trends of Local Economics with Michael Shuman

Episode Summary

Special guest Michael Shuman joins the podcast to share some of his findings on local economics, local investing, and economic development. As an attorney, entrepreneur, economist, and author, Micheal has been researching and writing about local economics for 3 decades. This episode covers myths about small businesses, and why classic economic development doesn't focus on them. Michael also shares why he believes the future is local, thanks to the internet, COVID, and updates to securities laws that are changing the future of how communities develop.

Episode Notes

Find all of Michael's workshops, books and speaking/consulting information on his website: michaelhshuman.com

Timestamps:

5:06 - Myths about small businesses & local economics 

6:17 - 2 examples/studies

7:08 - 60-80% of jobs are locally owned biz

7:21 - Local biz are competitive but our investments don't match up

8:10 - The capital market failure

8:24 - Why securities laws were passed and what the effect was for small business

9:35 - Why we are biased towards big corporations in ED

14:24 - The LOIS and TINA concept - local ownership and import substitution

17:52 - Local businesses are alot more competitive than we think. 

18:06 - The movement of our economy from goods-centered to services-centered

19:51 - It doesn’t make sense to ship water

21:30 - The effects of local communities no longer being limited to natural resource businesses