"I love that you've brought this to attention. An extensive database of uncommon but resistant and hardy plants/foods could be developed and organized by climate. Ease of growth and processing should also be taken in to account. I will try to…"
A crash course in changing the world.
Thriving Local Currency in Massachusetts
http://www.berkshares.org/
I admit fully to a bias for this as a 'Mass-h***' myself, but it's still quite interesting. The BerkShare is a local currency currently in circulation on a wide scale in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts. The BerkShare was launched in 2006 and is accepted by businesses of all types in the region. The above website includes not only a history of the currency, but also a comprehensive list of all businesses and services that accept it. Even several banks have allied themselves with the program.
Local currency like this is, I feel, a major player in allowing communities to thrive despite national and international financial trouble. The idea would be that, while national currency would still exist and be used for transactions around the country, local currencies would be just that; used for transactions withing that community. This would allow a degree of financial autonomy and resilience that we simply do not have at the moment being restricted to a single national currency. When silly bankers make mistakes, everyone suffers. Alternative local currencies would potentially cushion this blow.
I admit fully to a bias for this as a 'Mass-h***' myself, but it's still quite interesting. The BerkShare is a local currency currently in circulation on a wide scale in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts. The BerkShare was launched in 2006 and is accepted by businesses of all types in the region. The above website includes not only a history of the currency, but also a comprehensive list of all businesses and services that accept it. Even several banks have allied themselves with the program.
Local currency like this is, I feel, a major player in allowing communities to thrive despite national and international financial trouble. The idea would be that, while national currency would still exist and be used for transactions around the country, local currencies would be just that; used for transactions withing that community. This would allow a degree of financial autonomy and resilience that we simply do not have at the moment being restricted to a single national currency. When silly bankers make mistakes, everyone suffers. Alternative local currencies would potentially cushion this blow.
Views: 25
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Comment by Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys on April 4, 2010 at 9:36am
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I totally agree with you in every sense about local currencies. They are the most effective way to keep the money and hence resources inside the community. The challengethat I see for local currencies is trading with other communities that also use local currencies. Any ideas anyone of how this could work?
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Comment by James Hester on April 4, 2010 at 9:51am
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@ Patricio, This is a valid point. I'm a believer in Gandhi's Swadeshi model, whereby communities attempt to be as self-sufficient as is possible, thus minimizing (or perhaps eliminating if circ**stances allow) the need for bringing in necessary resources from outside the community. If they can produce everything they need to sustain the community 'in house' so to speak, so much the better. However I recognize that this is frequently not possible. In such cases where trade outside the community is necessary, I suppose there are three options. 1) Accept that this is what national currency is reserved for and use it accordingly. 2) Perhaps create tiers of currency with greater ranges of acceptance. In other words, a local currency, then others that are accepted farther and farther afield until you get to national level. or 3) Perhaps inter-community trade can work on the barter system. All just ideas at the moment, of course. Any thoughts?
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Comment by Rahul Dewanjee on April 4, 2010 at 10:16am
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I found this post very interesting. So much so that I have already sent it to the Deputy Director of the Reserve Bank of India (something similar to US Fed for India) to study the implications of Berkshares. Thanks for the url link of "berkshares".
However, I must admit that it would constitute a criminal offense in India if we are to do something like this under Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as under Negotiable Instruments Act, Anti Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). This is the on-ground reality in the world's largest democracy (India).
But I am quite hooked to what is proposed here. I never had an idea that this could happen in US and especially in Massachusetts in particular. So I am completely in an open mind right now. I would try and unlearn as much as possible about this proposition and then try to understand how this concept can be proposed in a setting like India. If something works in US, there is a good chance that it can work in some parts of India at least.
Thanks James for making me think. +1 for creativity.
Agent Lynn Caldwell, Agent AV Koshy and Agent Ethan Walden have proposed very exciting things somewhat similar to this post which might be something that we should also look at.
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Comment by Iyamuremye Jean de Dieu on April 4, 2010 at 10:24am
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Interesting post. Think about 3) idea of James, it can be the best one.
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@ Rahul, No no, thank YOU, sir. You do me honour by spreading this idea to such high places. I hope something good comes of it.
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@ Iyamuremye, I agree. It worked for thousands of years. I see no reason why it should not work still.
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Comment by KingofthePaupers on April 6, 2010 at 10:34pm
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Jct: I call what Berkshares does the Sparta effect. Visitors in Sparta could not spend their gold, they had to buy in for clay chips from the "casino bank" while the city banked the gold and kept the interest. So imagine everyone bought in for the cash in Berkshares. Exactly the same economic activity would go on but Berkshire would benefit of the interest. Substituting your own currency for the national currency essentially doubles the money supply while half leaves town to collect interest elsewhere for the benefit of the wh*** community. The Sparta Effect.
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James Hester: "Local currency like this is, I feel, a major player in allowing communities to thrive despite national and international financial trouble. The idea would be that, while national currency would still exist and be used for transactions around the country, local currencies would be just that; used for transactions withing that community. This would allow a degree of financial autonomy and resilience that we simply do not have at the moment being restricted to a single national currency. When silly bankers make mistakes, everyone suffers. Alternative local currencies would potentially cushion this blow."
Jct: People get the impression local currency facilitates local trade because it can't leave, not because there's always enough. But people outside of Ithaca take Hours knowing they can be cashed in! So they just print more until the the outside ones come back.
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Patricio Buenrostro-Gilhuys: 'local currencies are the most effective way to keep the money and hence resources inside the community. The challenge that I see for local currencies is trading with other communities that also use local currencies. Any ideas anyone of how this could work?"
Jct: In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with a timebank IOU for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours and I still have as many Hours IOUs left as necessary to do local trading. Local currencies work because they're interest-free and not in short supply, not because they say "local" though time-based currencies are all quite "global."
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