For all you die-hard Wal-Mart haters nauseated by my earlier post, check out Joel Makower’s review of Michael Shuman’s new book, The Small-Mart Revolution. Shuman, says Makower …
… paints a compelling portrait of how small, local business networks can work and succeed. In Shuman’s Small-Mart Nation, many of your neighbors run their own businesses, you spend more of your money on locally produced, high-quality goods and services, some of your savings sit in a local bank or credit union, and communities don’t bend over backwards — financially or otherwise — to lure global companies to set up shop nearby. It’s not that they don’t want automobile factories, big-box stores, and other manifestations of globalization in the ‘hood. It’s just that these entities will have to compete on a level playing field when it comes to zoning, taxes, schools, policing, and other government services. If they succeed, they’re welcome.
Sounds good to me.
