By looking out for each other, we'll all survive

Monday, December 1, the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007. The stock market reacted to this bit by tanking. It was as if they were surprised, which might be a clue to the grasp on reality that Wall Street currently has.

As stock values continue to drop and the financial world frets about the future or just plain panics, the lesson we can derive from these times is one learned many times over: it’s all about what you put your faith in.

Buying stock is an act of faith, for it is buying an interest in a company. Responsible stock buyers check out a company’s past performance. They investigate the goals and stated purpose and learn about product and services of that company, basing investment on something real and measurable, something they can have faith in. The assets and fiscal performance of the company support the stock value. At least, that’s what should happen.

In the recent past, rather than investing in something real like a well-run company or even a high-risk “growth” endeavor they found exciting and promising, many investors (and their advisors) bought anything and everything (including over-financed mortgages) on the assumption that the growth of the past few years would continue. The mortgage crisis began a crisis in faith, folks started to leave the party early and perceived values tumble. Poof! The artificially elevated value of investments disappeared in a cloud of Chicken Littles yelling, “The sky is falling!”

The difference between investing in something real or buying into pie-in-the-sky promises of perpetually increasing value is profound, and now is a good time to remember that local economy is as real as it gets. In an era of shaky finances, the best value for your money is right across the street. For return on investment, there’s nothing like putting money into your own community.

We won’t always have this ailing economy. While we do, we might remember that charity begins at home. Buying from local retailers, professionals, trades and crafts people, entertainment venues, artists and restaurants might take hundreds of thousands of dollars out of our pockets . . . but it also puts them right back.

The Winter 2007 issue of Yes!, a magazine focused on justice and sustainability, points out that of every dollar spent in small, private businesses, nearly half is reinvested locally. Of a dollar spent with a corporate chain, only 15 cents stays in town, and a dollar spent out of town is gone, gone, gone. A dollar spent out of town never comes home, and it’s time to get provincial.

Local restaurants, for example, keep hundreds of people working, and not just their own employees. County, city and even state employees keep their jobs through the taxes restaurants pay and generate. Restaurants provide income to home-town food purveyors, cleaning services, window washers, builders, architects, beer brewers, wine makers, electricians, appliance repair services, painters, advertising venues, hardware stores, car dealers, gas stations … you get the idea.

Restaurants not only support all sorts of local services, they provide hundreds of jobs directly — including entry level jobs for your kids — and untold thousands of dollars in annual support to local charities and causes. Every kids’ organization in Bonner County has Ivano’s, DiLuna’s, Spuds, Jalapeno’s, Eichardt’s, Connie’s, Arlo’s and Mickduff’s on their fund-raising go-to list (and these are just the downtown places).

The same applies to the great majority of locally owned and operated retail stores and service providers, for Bonner County businesses are historically supportive of the community they are based in. These include clothing and sports equipment retailers, car dealerships, bookstores, furniture and appliance dealers, art and gift shops, hardware stores, local doctors and dentists, realtors, printers, manufacturers, resorts and gas stations — all those places that your friends and family work.

The economy is going to get better, no matter the histrionics of the financial community. It may take a while, but the place it will begin to get better is right here at home. We can have a robust local economy if we have the faith to spend our money at home.

n Sandy Compton is an essayist, producer of The StoryTelling Company and author of Jason’s Passage, Archer MacClehan & The Hungry Now, and a new book, due out in January, Side Trips From Cowboy.