Stephen Cook: If you’re like me, you’re looking for evidence of change in this world. As you may recall, we’ve  posted a number of articles recently about the off-shore tax havens and the super-rich who use them. All those stories have been meticulously researched and produced by a group of independent journalists known collectively as the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The ICIJ has just released an update which shows what’s happened in various countries since this important series of articles came out. The reactions and responses are tangible – and heartening. And there’s a long list of them – from the G20 finance ministers’ meeting, to the US, Canada, Germany, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Malaysia, Luxembourg, the Philippines, India, Mongolia and elsewhere, including France, where President Francois Hollande has called for tax havens to be “eradicated”.

Release of Offshore Records Draws Worldwide Response

By Emily Menkes, Kimberley Porteous and Michael Hudson, ICIJ – April 20, 2013

http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/04/release-offshore-records-draws-worldwide-response

ICIJ’s investigative series on offshore secrecy – which draws from a cache of 2.5 million secret records – has ignited reactions around the globe.

Since the initial release of stories by the ICIJ and its media partners across the world, public officials have issued statements, governments have launched investigations, and politicians and journalists have been debating the implications of the records and the reporting.

By Van Jones, CNN Contributor

Editor's note: Van Jones, a CNN contributor, is president and founder of Rebuild the Dream, an online platform focusing on policy, economics and media. He was President Obama's green jobs adviser in 2009. He is also founder of Green for All, a national organization working to build a green economy.

(CNN) -- We are not living up to the promise of the American Dream.

Even now, our leaders are talking about cutting, instead of creating jobs to grow our way out of the deficit. Congress is ignoring big problems, congratulating itself on avoiding a fiscal cliff of its own creation. The federal budget props up broken parts of our economic system -- big banks, big polluters and big defense contractors -- instead of investing in areas such as education and infrastructure that would benefit everyone.

Now, a new breed of companies is leveraging the power of networks and sharing -- and showing us what a more sustainable, prosperous future can look like.

Van Jones

One of the most well-known examples is Zipcar. Its tagline, "wheels when you want them," pretty much sums up the company. Zipcar was just bought by rental giant Avis Budget Group for nearly $500 million as part of Avis' push to compete with Hertz's and Enterprise's new car-sharing services. The demographics of car-sharing customers holds promise for future growth as younger, tech-savvy consumers tend to prefer sharing services.