Imagining the Ideal World - Economics and Ecology: United for a Sustainable World - page 143

community. CEOs of locally-based companies will not earn as much as CEOs
of some multinational corporations, but they will earn an excellent living if
the companies succeed and are likely to contribute as leaders or minor phi-
lanthropists in the community in which they live and which supports them.
Growth of the employment base and rising average salaries are much more
likely over time than with the conventional approach to economic expan-
sion. Moreover, the decision-making power stays in the community.
3. Produce Products for Export
Invariably, traditional economic development is strictly targeted at firms
that produce goods for export—out of that locality if not out of the country.
Conventional, export-based economic wisdom discounts the value of the ser-
vice sector with the euphemism: “After all, you can't just 'take in each other's
laundry.'” Fundamental economic analysis is clear: No city, state, or region is
a closed system. There are always goods you do not produce yourself, which
you need to import from other areas (automobiles might be a good example).
Such purchases send your dollars outside the area; goods that you produce
and send outside to others are needed to reverse the flow and bring dollars
back in for recirculation.
Facilitating production of export-based goods, therefore, is the historic role
for large corporations. Consequently, attracting them is seen as the salvation
of the local economy. However, we do not need more corporations to come in
and simply help suck local dollars out of the local community. Walmart does
enough of that for all absentee-owned corporations combined. Of course,
an export-based strategy puts a local labor force in direct competition with
labor markets all over the world, because a good produced for export can, by
definition, be produced virtually anywhere.
A local approach differs starkly from conventional economic goals and mod-
els. The sales target is strictly the local market. There is no goal of produc-
ing for export. If a business should thrive, and its productive output begins
to exceed local demand, the market could be expanded in concentric circles
around the point of production. But, the consumer base must be kept as close
to home as possible, because that is the most likely way to retain a loyal market
and insulate the operation from the predatory competition of a national com-
pany or chain.
It is reasonable to ask how this helps the local economy, compared to a
company that produces for export and thus relies on the income of other
areas to support a healthy level of sales. The answer is simple. Export-based
production seeks to bring in dollars spent on purchasing goods that we do
not produce locally. A local approach seeks to produce and market those
goods so the dollars never leave in the first place. The impact on the local
economy is the same as for an export-based product, and consumers still
get what they need of the goods in question, plus all the accompanying ben-
efits discussed here. There is no more important point about this strategy