This slowdown is a good idea
By Alan Cantor
A friend who works on Wall Street keeps saying: “Money moves FAST! You have to be ready to grab it!”
I’m no economist, but it seems clear that fast-moving money – sped up by technology and globalization – is part of what helped get the economy into trouble. Money moves fast when one consortium, then another, then a third, buys and sells a manufacturing company, leaving the company in debt, its product degraded, and its workers out of luck and out of a job. (See the New York Times’ sobering article on Simmons Mattress).
Money also moved fast when variable-rate sub-prime mortgages, which were ill advised for both mortgagor and mortgagee, were created rapidly and loosely and for the pure purpose of selling them (fast!) to gullible buyers. The devastation that followed is well documented – and all around us.
So it was refreshing this summer to spend a couple of days in Shelburne, VT, at the second annual gathering of the Slow Money Alliance.
The Slow Money folks are focused on reversing the environmental and economic debris caused by the industrialized food system. They care about rebuilding the soil and strengthening local food systems, and they are encouraging people to invest in these efforts with, as they call it, “slow money.”
In fact, they use the phrase “patient capital,” which is how we often refer to the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund’s investments: Don’t put the money in and pull it out for a quick return – leave it here, for good purposes, to do good things. (And, yes, to provide a fair return.)
Like everyone, I’m hoping the economy improves. But as it does, let’s not equate economic success with the speed by which money travels. More-patient and more-local investment will not only help us pull out of this recession, it will help keep us from slipping into the next one. And in the process, investing money locally and patiently will improve the quality of life in our communities.
Alan Cantor is the former Vice President, Philanthropy for the Community Loan Fund. He is now principal of Alan Cantor Consulting LLC.