Small-Mart Revolution author Michael Shuman gave a fascinating talk at the Vermont statehouse the other day.

We've compressed it and hosted it at YouTube - follow the first part below to the whole talk.

Shuman is full of good ideas for decentralizing our economic life.

His talk is worth watching, and you can find out more at his web site.

John Michael Greer  wonders whether the Transition Town Movement is engaging in "premature triumphalism." As a part of the initiating group in Transition Town Montpelier, which on Tuesday received official recognition from the international transition folks, I doubt it.

We're happy if people even notice what we're up to.

Luckily, there's a chance Monday for everyone in the central Vermont area to find out more about Transition Towns and judge for themselves. Naresh Giangrande, co-founder of the first Transition Town, Totnes in the UK, will speak on “Transition Towns: From Oil Dependency to Resilient Communities.” The talk is Monday, November 24, 7 pm. Unitarian Church, Main Street, Montpelier. We're being contacted by people as far away as Maine and Massachusetts who want to hear the talk, so come early!

Greer provides a nice summary of the Transition Town movement:

This video is a remarkable primer on the unjust and unconstitional nature of our U.S. monetary system - and a good argument for nonviolent secession, as well.

Heady stuff - but vital, for an understanding of the current Wall Street wing ding.

Author’s note: I had planned to write a follow-up to Exponential Money in a Finite World (published in Vermont Commons,
Fall 2008), where I would continue to make the case that our financial
system is incompatible with reality and is due either for collapse or a
major overhaul over the next 20 years – max. National events have
obviously overtaken the publication schedule, so I will instead focus
on the recent bailout and what this means to each of us over the next
one-to-two years.

The following interview considers the feasibility of wood being a
primary heating-fuel source for Vermont. New wood stove technology,
combined with sustainable forestry, offers a real opportunity for
Vermont to become more energy independent. According to the Vermont
Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation, Vermont’s landmass is 78
percent forest with 4.5 million acres of woodland and an average of 26
cord of standing wood per acre, for 117 million cord of total standing
wood.

"Money alone sets all the world in motion."
-    Publius Syrus, 42 B. C.

“Yet habit -- strange thing! What cannot habit accomplish?”

So wrote Herman Melville in his epic novel Moby-Dick. More than 150
years later his face would appear on  currency near his home in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and his quote would become relevant not only
for describing a captain in search of an elusive whale, but also for a
group of citizens searching for an elusive economic vision.

Rob's Note - My neighbor Win Smith published this editorial in our weekly Valley Reporter last week. He is the current principal owner of Sugarbush Resort and the former chair of Merrill Lynch
International - and proposes a fascinating idea here. We welcome your thoughts.

It's time to find more people to pay Vermont income tax

by Win Smith

I'm often baffled by the correlations that business writers point to between daily events and barometers like oil prices and the stock market. As Nassin Nicholas Taleb points out in The Black Swan, we really don't know what causes these hour-to-hour or day-to-day gyrations. No controlled experiment is possible to test any theory.

For example, the New York Times' lede this morning is: "The major stock exchanges in New York followed Europe and Asia higher Monday, inspired by government efforts to reassure investors."

So, with that in mind, let me craft my own unfalsifiable take on today's financial news:

Markets rallied Monday morning on the news that Princeton economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman won the Swedish National Bank's economics prize in memory of Alfred Nobel.  The selection of Krugman, who has been harshly critical of the Bush Administration's illegal activities and unwise economic policies, is seen by the markets as pressure on the US government to fully respect citizens' Constitutional rights and provide universal health care, policies Krugman has advocated.

Alas, though Krugman was selected for the economics prize for his work in international trade, I don't recall anything in his columns that shows much interest in the advantages or disadvantages of relocalization.

I have, however, appreciated his willingness to actually apply economic theory (instead of the more common hand waving) to understand the role of supply and demand vs. speculation in the most recent phase of the ten-year rise in oil prices. Some of his blog posts helped guide my thinking in a column I wrote on the subject.

Economic "shock and awe" has now arrived.

Welcome to life under the Empire.

I hope all these Vermont-based financial analysts are accurate when they suggest that Vermont will remain relatively unaffected by the tapeworm economy.

 Happy week-end.

C'mon now - tell me you aren't dying for some.

#1: Vermont Castings is adding as many as 88 jobs in Bethel and Randolph.

#2: South Burlington is creating an energy advisory panel.

Baby steps, everyone.

Baby steps.

Free Vermont!