Locavesting

In the wake of the financial crisis, investors are faced with a stark choice: entrust their hard-earned dollars to the Wall Street casino, or settle for anemic interest rates on savings, bonds, and CDs. Meanwhile, small businesses are being starved for the credit and capital they need to grow. There's got to be a better way.

In Locavesting: The Revolution in Local Investing and How to Profit from It, Amy Cortese takes us inside the local investing movement, where solutions to some of the nation's most pressing problems are taking shape. The idea is that, by investing in local businesses, rather than faceless conglomerates, investors can earn profits while building healthy, self-reliant communities.

• Introduces you to the ideas and pioneers behind the local investing movement
• Profiles the people and communities who are putting their money to work in their own backyards and taking control of their destinies
• Explores innovative investment strategies, from community capital and crowdfunding to local stock exchanges

With confidence in Wall Street and the government badly shaken, Americans are looking for alternatives. Local investing offers a way to rebuild our nest eggs, communities, and, just perhaps, our country.

Amy Cortese (New York, NY) is a financial writer who has spent her career writing about business, finance, environmental issues and food, giving her a unique perspective on how these different realms are intricately linked. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Business Week, The American, Mother Jones, Wired, The DailyBeast.com, and many other publications. Cortese was previously senior vice president at online investment bank Wit Capital in the late 1990s. Throughout her career, including five years as an editor for Business Week covering high-tech and Silicon Valley, she has taken complex topics and translated them into accessible, engaging prose for a general audience.