Local Currency
Conference Introduces Evolution of Money for Local Communities
by Brad Kik
The E.F. Schumacher Society, whose namesake was one of Britain’s most influential economists and the author of “Small is Beautiful”, held a conference entitled “Local Currencies in the 21st Century” at Bard College in late June. The Traverse Area Community Currency Corporation (TACCC) sent three members – Chris Grobbel, Brad Kik, and Stephanie Mills – to gain an overview of how money systems can be better understood by people working to protect their local economies and create vibrant communities.
Thomas Greco, author of Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender, helped to frame the conference by demystifying the process of creating money. He explained that money is created by the act of someone going into debt to a bank. The bank literally creates money by crediting the loan to someone’s account. The resulting interest fuels inflation and the growth imperative – the need to constantly expand an economy at the cost of the environment, culture, and human rights.
The conference then focused on three main systems of alternative money.
Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS), invented by Michael Linton, allow people to voluntarily exchange goods and services without money, and without the limitations of barter. Computers are often used as a central database to track exchanges. <http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/faq.html>
HOURs, developed by Paul Glover in Ithaca, New York, use artful printed currency as a local medium of exchange – one HOURs note is equal to one hour of labor, whether it’s lawn mowing, massage, or legal action. One HOURs note also equals $10 (the average hourly wage in the county) worth of goods (food at a local restaurant, a movie, groceries, etc.). The use of HOURs is restricted to within 20 miles of Ithaca. <http://www.ithacahours.com/>
Time Dollars, were developed by Edgar Cahn, author of No more Throw-Away People, and is a “currency of caring” – a system that rewards the giving of time from one person to another, whether it be caring for the elderly, giving music lessons, tutoring, or home repair. As with HOURs, one hour equals one hour, and the focus is often on people who are undervalued contributors to a community – the retired, under-employed or disabled. <http://www.timedollar.org/index.htm>
The diversity of systems was consistently referred to as the great strength of the movement. The dominant theme to the conference was that communities are not dependent on using interest and inflation based dollars, on destroying their natural resources in order to be “wealthy”, and on devaluing the things that mean the most to us: our relationships, neighborhoods and ability to act with compassion. Communities can and should work to find new ways to facilitate the exchange process, and that the more experimenting we do, the better.
On the local scene, the Traverse Area Community Currency Corporation (TACCC) is in the process of forming a board of directors, as well as conducting ongoing education about the purpose and reasons for creating a local currency. If you are a business owner who would be interested in trading in Bay Bucks (most businesses designate a certain percentage they are willing to take in the local currency), please contact us at the Neahtawanta Center. Once the board is formed, a directory of participating businesses will be published, and the money will be printed. Watch for an announcement in the media -- I’m sure it will be headline newshttp://baybucks.org