Posts Tagged ‘local economies’

Beer: Recession proof, harbinger of economic renaissance

Tuesday, 17 February 2009 09:07 Written by Eric Garland 0 Comments

Those of you who read Future, Inc. know my special love for beer. It’s a magical substance for oh, so many reasons, beer-stylesbut among its many mystical properties is that it’s RECESSION-PROOF.

This is a simple local news story about a Carolina brewer starting a business in a down market. The punchline is that it’s almost always safe to start a business doing delicious craft brew beer, since sales of alcohol are the last to slump, and since the segment is still growing 14% a year.

One of the things we discovered about local beer was that it ends up being the flag for local economic recovery. So, neighbors out of work? Tough times ahead? Drink your local beer with your friends – it may be the signal of economic vitality right around the corner.

The rise of the barter economy

Monday, 12 January 2009 19:51 Written by Eric Garland 0 Comments

A few weeks ago we speculated that local barter economies might pop up in response to the implosion of super-fancy global capital markets.

According to a very cool article in the London Times, barter is making a comeback.

In the UK, a village pub, the Pigs, at Edgefield, in Norfolk, offered pints in exchange for locally sourced food to be cooked in its kitchens. Thousands of others trade more formally through exchanges such as Bartercard: last year the Fashion TV network used Bartercard to save £110,000 in cash on alcohol and other goods for its launch party – which FTV is repaying by providing advertising.

Incidentally, here’s that video of our thoughts of barter.

Global finance’s loss is the rebirth of the local economy

Wednesday, 24 September 2008 16:45 Written by Eric Garland 1 Comment

With jitters about worldwide depression and financial meltdown gripping the globe, we consider some scenarios for a busted economy – maybe it is more local than global.

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This is the official trend blog of Competitive Futures, a management consultancy that provides trend research and analysis for business and government around the world. Here, we update you on interesting trends we see as part of our work for our clients.


For managing partner Eric Garland's new author and speaker blog, please consult and bookmark http://www.ericgarland.co

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