With the growing Occupy Wall Street movement, the Oscar winning documentary, Inside Job, and the continual news about financial failure all over the world, it seems that the finance, banking and investment industry has been taken over by a wild-eyed group who can’t see beyond the dollars piling up in front of them. Yes, since the Federal government began deregulating in the early 1980’s, many people in the financial industry have been making themselves very wealthy by exploiting new ways to pump money out of others while damaging the businesses and lives of the rest of the global economy. And alternative institutions to provide sustainable finance are growing and new innovations in sustainable finance are being developed.
Sustainable finance supports people and places.
Two books, David Korten’s Agenda for a New Economy, and Bill Mckibben’s Deep Economy, show what sustainable finance looks like. Sustainable Finance creates real value, making people and communities stronger, healthier and more beautiful without depleting non-renewable resources or destroying ecosystems.
Existing alternative financial institutions include credit unions, non-profits that forego speculative investing on Wall Street for investing locally. As people become aware of what has been going on in the Wall Street financial system, they are moving their money out of the four large banks and into credit unions – even churches, municipalities and PTA’s!
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values is creating a network of banks that share the value of “using money as a tool for enhancing the quality of life through human, social, cultural and environmental development.” (gabv.org) This consortium of banks from all over the world are working to re-invent finance to be something life-enhancing.
Slow Money is bringing people together to redefine investment – fostering financial institutions that are connected to people and places, and is “fixing our economy from the group up… starting with food!”
Another development is crowdsourcing, where small individual contributions from huge virtual crowds accumulate into the financial support for business creation. Kickstarter and Kiva are two popular crowd-funding web platforms benefitting small business and individuals all over the world. On these websites we can give money to people and contribute to ventures we find worthwhile.
At BGI, I’m working with a team of students whose purpose is to empower people to invest in each other. We’re working on creating a model local investment market making it possible for each of us to invest our money in people and places we care about. Many Americans have retirement savings in 401-Ks or similar savings instruments. The idea is to put your investment dollars into people you know about, who are making your community and your world a better place. Your retirement savings could finance the kinds of small businesses you believe in.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI love the lay out of this post. It does a great job of using the space and encourages me to read rather than skim. I like the idea of kickstarter to help give friends a boost, but is just that a gift. I think an investment has more meaning and will foster a sense of responsibility that a gift doesn't always create. I will continue to follow you as you report on crowd sourcing. Keep up the great work.