The Myth of the Barter Economy - The Atlantic. But various anthropologists have pointed out that this barter economy has never been witnessed as researchers have traveled to undeveloped parts of the globe.
“No example of a barter economy, pure and simple, has ever been described, let alone the emergence from it of money,” wrote the Cambridge anthropology professor Caroline Humphrey in a 1985 paper. “All available ethnography suggests that there never has been such a thing.” Humphrey isn’t alone.
Bernard Lietaer. New Economy, New Wealth by Arthur Brock on Prezi. TimeBanks USA. MI Alliance of TimeBanks - How It Works. At its most basic level, TimeBanking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the TimeBank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.
Create your Time Bank site. Timebanking UK: a guide for setting up your own time bank. LETSystems - the Home Page. Accept credit cards with your iPhone, Android or iPad – Square. The MetaCurrency Project. Fourth Corner Exchange Inc - Brief Introduction. The Life Currency Cooperative Exchange Have you ever wondered why, when millions of people have been working for positive change for so many years, the world is still in such a mess?
Does it seem like no matter how much good work is done, the destructive juggernaut of modern culture steams ahead regardless, intent on destroying the planet and the quality of people's lives? There is an invisible but powerful underlying structure in our lives and our culture, one which supports and rewards antisocial behavior, the destruction of the environment and our communities, and the exploitation of people and resources. Local Currencies - Replacing Scarcity with Trust.
Complementary Currency Resource Center. Yes! Local Currency Resources. Resources Guide posted Jun 30, 1997 Elderplan Inc. 6323 Seventh Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11220 718/921- HMO that issues service credits to seniors who help one another LETSystems Landsman Community Services Ltd. 1600 Embelton Cres.
Courtenay, BC V9N 6N8 Canada 250/338-0213 contact: Michael Linton email: Ics@mars.ark. A hub of LETS creativity E.F. Many links to local currencies and community economics. Local Currency News, a new quarterly to be co-edited by Paul Glover and SusanWitt $25/year Local Currencies: Catalysts for Sustainable Regional Economicsby Robert Swannand Susan Witt $5 Second Annual Decentralist Conference, June 27-29, 1997 to be held inWilliamstown, MA, on community economics including local currencies. Local currency - Cashwiki - the Collaborative Website about Money. In economics, a local currency, in its common usage, is a currency not backed by a national government (and not necessarily legal tender), and intended to trade only in a small area.
These currencies are also referred to as community currency. They encompass a wide range of forms, both physically and financially, and often are associated with a particular economic discourse. History Free banking provides the economic prototype of local currencies. Community currencies. Resources for Community Currency Activists. Direct link to the book...
The War on Freedom. Making Money - Issue #2 Money Print Your Own. Money can be designed to enhance community, integrity, equity and sustainability - or it can do the opposite.
The money-makers in this story created various kinds of local currency- and you can, too! Posted Jun 30, 1997. How to make a difference - Culture change - 10 steps to creating your own local currency. In March 2007 Transition Town Totnes launched the UK's first Transition Currency - a complimentary currency, backed by Sterling, that strengthens the local economy.
Since then three other Transition Towns have followed. The value of these projects is that they raise the profile of local businesses and start community-wide conversations around issues like the fragility of the international banking system, climate change and peak oil. Lambeth council estimates that the positive media coverage generated by the Brixton Pound is worth around £100,000. And since systemic risk is still alive and well in the international financial system, having an alternative currency could play a useful role in plugging the gap when the dominant system fails. How to Start a Community Currency.
“Banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies...The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.
" - Thomas Jefferson “Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” - Banker Mayer Amschel Rothschild The centralized creation of money and credit has a profoundly negative effect on local economies, sovereignty, and social cohesion. Bankers value profit at all costs, while locally-controlled institutions tend to hold other values - like community, justice and sustainability - more highly. Communities can regain control of the flow of money and credit by issuing their own currency as a complement to conventional money, as electronic barter networks, debit cards, mobile phone payments, Timebanks, LETS, or old-fashioned cash. By altering the flow of resources, community currencies take power away from multinationals and put it in the hands of more accountable local entities. How to Print Dollars in Your Own Backyard and Keep Them Away from Wal-Mart. BerkShares are the local paper currency of Berkshire County, Massachusetts.
Photo courtesy of Lauren Fuller Photography. What if you used a different currency to buy a sandwich from your main street deli than you did to make a purchase at the Wal-Mart 10 miles outside town? Local Currency Know-How. Can Local Currencies be the Foundation for the Sharing Economy? A relatively new financial tool is emerging that could greatly strengthen the sharing movement.
The tool is local currencies, which are popping up in cities across the globe. The Boston Bean is one of the newest U.S. examples. The local currency in Bristol, U.K., can even be used to pay local business taxes. Excitement is spreading, in part due to desperate economic conditions and the potential of local currencies to boost local economies. Make your money count—more than once. Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing. By Marisol Bello, USA TODAY A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money. Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses. The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.
Do local currencies work? November 27, 2012 Six years on from its launch, a local currency in the United States continues to inspire others. But what can it tell us about their potential to nurture vibrant, distinctive local economies? Austin Macauley reports Two months on from the launch of the UK’s first city-wide local currency, the Bristol Pound, the scheme continues to create a buzz. Last week, the city’s first elected mayor’s decision to receive his entire salary in Bristol Pounds gave a huge boost to the emerging currency. There’s a confident feel to the Bristol Pound website. The Bristol Pound is the first to have electronic accounts managed by a regulated financial institution – Bristol Credit Union – and the most ambitious of the local currencies seen so far in the UK. The local currency rush: 'In the U.S. we don't trust' - Jan. 18. NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- It may seem like Monopoly money to outsiders, but a growing number of communities across the U.S. are using homegrown local currencies to stimulate their economies and protect themselves from the nation's broader economic woes.
While there were only about 20 active community currencies in the United States in 2009, there has been a recent resurgence, with at least a dozen communities developing their own currencies in the past couple of years, estimates Loren Gatch, a professor of political science at the University of Central Oklahoma who researches these alternative currencies. In addition, currencies that have been around for years have seen a spike in interest, with membership doubling in some cases.
"Economic instability is on peoples' minds," said Gatch. Local Currency Systems Growing. Local Monetary Reform — Do It Yourself! If you are concerned about monetary monopoly, you will find this list both useful and encouraging. Homegrown currency systems are flourishing. Naturally, they have a long way to go before they make a serious difference and attract government intrusion, but meanwhile they are helping people who want improved ways to exchange value for value.
Check out the one nearest to you! Austria Talente-Tauschkreis-Tirol/ Michael Graf HR = 100 Austrian Schillings (that’s roughly 10 US dollars) Michael.Graf@vibk.ac.at Anzemgruberstrasse 6, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria France A TOUT A L’HEURE/ DANIEL TERRIER (Heure = 40 FF) La Cure, rue General Collomb, 05190 Remollon France dterrier@alpes.net.fr Tel/Fax: 04.92.54.61.19.
Towns Create Local Currencies. With local economies flailing, communities across the U.S. are trying to drum up more action on Main Street. Greece develops cashless, Euro-free currency in tight economy. In Spain, financial crisis feeds expansion of a parallel, euro-free economy. Paying with 'kisses' as Brazil’s social currencies spread. Open-source currencies on the rise in Greece. In the shadow of the Euro Crisis, the people of the Greek city of Volos are taking their monetary future into their own hands. Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering. Barter Trade Exchange.