Comments on: Have local currencies got it wrong?

By: John Rogers

John Rogers — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:45:27 +0000

@Mike @Nat

Local currencies DO NOT TRY to replace national currencies, they are complementary, parallel, they have a different job to do by placing a geographical boundary around usability of the currency.

It is not relevant to talk about paying national taxes with local currency. Much more relevant are local taxes and business rates and this is already possible in Vorarlberg, Austria and in Bristol, UK.

The ‘real transition’ you propose may well come from a powerful combination of national monetary reform on the lines proposed by the Positive Money Campaign PLUS a thriving network of viable regional currencies. Neither solution alone can provide for all our needs.

By: Nat

Nat — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 22:01:52 +0000

I’m a bit late to this thread but I’d like to say that Mike hits the nail on the head when he says that “[local currencies] can never replace a national currency so long as the central government only allows payment of taxes in the national currency” and that “[fiat] currencies would be worthless if the government did not give them value by requiring citizens to pay taxes in that denomination”. In other words, it’s false to say that fiat currencies are not backed by anything, rather they are backed by millions of workers paying tax. Governments thereby wield enormous power through taxation as this prevents factions from breaking away and running their own affairs. This is fine as long as the government truly represents the interests of the populace. If however, the government represents corporations and big banks then it is a kind of fascism which will not hesitate to tighten the noose ever further to ensure its own survival.

By: John Rogers

John Rogers — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 16:07:02 +0000

One critical factor often overlooked in these kind of conversations: the design *process*. It is never about the currency, that is simply a means to an end. It is about matching underused assets to unmet needs.

Community development process + currency design = sustainable system.

ORDER process:
OWNERSHIP – get community buy-in from all sectors: individuals, businesses, voluntary groups AND local government.
RESEARCH – do your homework about the diversity of possible models
DESIGN – choose the design features that most suit your local situation , one size does not fit all
ENGAGE – launch the currency with critical mass signed up before launch
REVIEW – build in monitoring and evaluation to ensure you are achieving your stated goals.

Make sure that you do a comprehensive mapping of needs and assets of all players, individuals, businesses, voluntary groups AND local government. Publish the needs and assets on a publicly available website map. This builds up a buzz and anticipation well before launch. Set a critical mass of each player to be signed up to avoid launching without viable numbers and wasting energy after launch, a key cause of failure.

By: Allan

Allan — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 11:29:26 +0000

On the Ayrshire North I am looking at setting up a local currency which for now I will call a new Bawbee.
Unlike the Pound sterling based on debt I would like to base it not on Gold but on the energy of the Future, Hydrogen. I intend to tackle this on several fronts.
The formation of a local community energy company.
The production of Hydrogen in three ways.
A.) Utilizing the University of Strathclyde Wind farm Hydrogen Buffering to electrolyser fuel cell model.
B.) Utilizing the new tidal generators especially those that can be used locally i.e. mounted on a converted fishing boat and connected to an electrolyser like the CorMat tethered tidal turbine.
C.) A local Anaerobic Digester with a fuel cell. With the main input of household waste and Marine Bio fuel. Seaweed see BioMara and the 4,000 year history of seaweed use in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. see there just completed 4 year multi million Euro study on Marine Bio fuel.

The local energy company would then have for sale:-
Natural gas sold and injected into the National Gas Grid.
Electricity sold to the National Grid.
Hydrogen sales from a Replenishment Station.
Hydrogen sold on the open market i.e. to BOC
Fertiliser.

What I am thinking would I have to hold in storage the amount of hydrogen that the local currency is worth. Would this vary on the storage. Would the rate of exchange hydrogen/pound sterling/local currency change quickly and rapidly.

I have applied under the WRAP system for inclusion in the 7th of January 2nd Anaerobic Digester funding round.

Comments please.
Regards
Allan Douglas

By: Allan

Allan — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 10:40:12 +0000

Why a pound anyway. In Boston New England they call it the Bostan Bean. Here on the North Coast of Ayshire I am promating the local currency as the New Bawbee. Call it what you want.

By: Simon Carter

Simon Carter — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 19:29:39 +0000

Ordered.

By: John Rogers

John Rogers — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 16:32:37 +0000

Hello everyone, just caught up with this conversation.

I very much hope you will all read our book “People Money – the Promise of Regional Currencies” published by Triarchy Press in July 2012 and learn from the sixteen profiles of leading local currency systems from around the world, which are based on interviews with local organisers. We all have a lot to learn.

You may also be interested in the design processes we propose in the book: http://www.triarchypress.com/pages/Regional-Currencies-People-Money.htm

Happy reading and designing!

By: Simon Carter

Simon Carter — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:30:57 +0000

Thank you Shane. You have quietly put the palm of your hand behind this. Encouraging me to write the original article that started this thread has been very valuable. The fact that you are monitoring our progress & continue to make suggestions & point us in the right direction continues to help.

By: Admin (Shane Hughes)

Admin (Shane Hughes) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:17:21 +0000

Simon, one of the Brixton pound team will be at the REconomy Project Day at the Transition Conference and could help you with your questions re printed curreny notes https://www.transitionnetwork.org/conference-2012-uk and you might like to check out Transition Chichester’s local currecy. It appears to be more of a timebank but they do print notes too. http://tchidirectory.wordpress.com/info/about/

By: Simon Carter

Simon Carter — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:13:48 +0000

WOW . . . now I empathise with Ben, & understand his point, which is that any initiative which draws attention to the iniquities of our government controlled debt based, economic growth dependent monetary system is a good thing. I will take solace from that in the process of getting it wrong.

What is great about this thread mostly is the prospect of others taking an interest in our efforts & wanting us to succeed, to whatever degree that may be. That alone is contrary to our dog eat dog economy where competitiveness is lauded as the route to success, where success at someone else’s expense is accepted as a given & even applauded. If Kevin or Matthew can take anything from my efforts & apply it to theirs, then I am very happy with that prospect. Meantime reading all about their efforts cannot help but assist mine.

With that in mind we believe we have identified our printed money designer. We will definitely wish to explore other distribution options, but see the printed option as the fastest route to market. Any help from those who have gone before us would be much appreciated, i.e. Totnes, Stroud, Lewes, Brixton, & soon Bristol. Are there any others?.

We are also endeavouring to identify potential strategic partners to help us ensure that our principal invested in community assets is done so wisely & intelligently. Risk will not be the name of the game. Equally any advice in this area will be most welcome.

I should say in response to Money’s post, marketing is our focus. Getting the whole thing off the ground does have a game plan. Kevin has highlighted the challenge. I hope we are up to it. The more help we can galvanise the better. AS yet we have no access to PhD students & have yet to explore the power of volunteers who believe in the importance of this stuff. Put simply, it’s very early days for us, but we are determined to give it our best shot.