Nov 17, 2008 — We're asking people to think big, for the Obama Administration. Michael Shuman thinks big, about small things: small business, local economies. He's brought his ideas about local economies to North Country sustainability symposiums. His books include Going Local: Creating Self-reliant Communities in a Global Age, and The Small-mart Revolution - how Local Businesses are Beating the Global Competition. As an economist, Shuman speaks the language of high finance, but applies it to the most local of transactions. He's proposing a massive DE-regulation of microfinance, while the rest of the world is focused on increasing regulation on macrofinance. In conversation with Martha Foley, Shuman said the most important thing the Obama Administration needs to understand is that revitalizing America's economy requires revitalizing the Main Street economy.