A Healthy Economy

A healthy economy allocates natural, financial and human resources justly and sustainably to meet the self-defined needs of individuals and the community.

When enterprises are locally rooted, human-scale, owned by stakeholders and held accountable to the rule of law by democratically elected governments, there is a natural incentive for all concerned to take individual and community needs and interests into account. When income and ownership are equitably distributed, justice is served and political democracy is strong.

When needs are met locally by locally owned enterprises, people have greater control over their lives, money is recycled in the community rather than leaking off, jobs are more secure, economies are more stable and there are the means and incentives to protect the environment and build relationships of mutual trust and responsibility that are the foundation of community.

Our healthy future requires a less exploitive, more interdependent relationship with nature, both at home and in the offshore lands where many of our raw materials and most of our manufactured goods come from. When it comes to the biosphere and the interdependence of peoples, there are no economic externalities. As such, economic activity must be evaluated from an integrated perspective - ecological, socio-cultural and economic. To ensure all externalities are accounted for certification, monitoring, and policing are important, but can never be a substitute for transparency in healthy policy and practice.

In our interdependent biosphere, it doesn’t entirely benefit our global environment to only clean-up industry here. We need to ask how our goods are produced offshore. Price and ecological assurances are key for purchasing, but to ensure systemic health, we need to ask how workers are treated & natural resources are impacted in the processes of extraction, production, assembly, packaging, shipping, use, disposal, etc.

Independent, human-scale businesses are by far the majority of all businesses, provide most jobs, create nearly all new jobs and are the source of most innovation. We're committed to help create new models of economic development through which communities gain ownership positions in the emerging healthy economy. We intend to provide value-added catalyzing & connecting services to help get your businesses off the ground, guide you through the early stages of development and keep you up-to-date with the information you need. 

A healthy organization demonstrates a commitment to strong community and meaningful employment. A healthy business pays its workers enough so that they can afford to improve their consumption habits and buy fresh, healthy food. Healthy businesses do not profit by harming any community or the global ecosystem.

We aim to provide solutions that help create communities largely self-reliant in basic needs, where entrepreneurship and local business ownership are the primary modes of economic security. We look to community members to help us determine what goods and services are most needed to create economic and ecological sustainability in our communities. What do people and businesses regularly buy that is or could be supplied locally by socially and ecologically responsible independent enterprises? Which existing local businesses are trying to practice healthy economy values? In what sectors are they clustered? Are there collaborative efforts already underway? The answers will point to promising opportunities.

*This information was taken from the BALLE website.