3. Buy Locally, Sell Globally

Economists like to speak of the dangers of "leakage," the value of "import substitution" and the resulting increase in "multiplier effects." What they mean is that buying products from outside our community - from stores in other cities or from stores that are in our city but are not locally owned - takes money out of the local economy. What we should do instead is buy locally.

Not only does it keep the money in our local economy, it allows the money to "multiply." The clothes you buy from a locally owned store allow the storeowner to hire local employees and buy a washing machine from the locally owned appliance store. The appliance storeowner, in turn, hires more local employees and hires a local construction company to build a new house. Each of those local employees can do the same.

On top of these benefits are the ones that come from having business owners live where they do business. That leads to citizenship, which we know from Kemmis contributes to a host of benefits - loyalty to the community, charitable giving, political involvement, and on and on.

The flip side to buying locally is selling globally - exporting. It is a big world out there with lots of buyers. Figure out ways to sell to it and bring their dollars, euros and yen into the local economy.


Principle In Action

We must not forget the “little man” when we make decisions to buy from the big box stores.  Farms provide a better quality of life for urban citizens by providing locally grown food and preserving greenspace.