Noted for Trust
Posted by alice , Saturday, 28 February 2009Financial Times of London - Fiona Leney - In the pretty Sussex town of Lewes, 10 miles inland from the southern
English coast, an interesting experiment is taking place.
Media Coverage
Pages
Recent News
The Future of Money
Posted by alice , Wednesday, 4 February 2009River Cities' Reader - Jeff Ignatius - Reader issue #719 In the Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, area, you can walk around with coins in your pocket that can be exchanged for goods and services at more than five dozen merchants. They say "Liberty" and "Trust in God" on the front, and on the back they claim a value of $20 or $50. They're made of silver, and they are neither produced nor endorsed by the federal government.
In Fairfield, Iowa, those same coins are accepted at more than 15 merchants, from Mexican restaurants to Radio Shack.
Local Food for Thought
Posted by alice , Monday, 2 February 2009Ann Arbor Chronicle - Mary Morgan - The day’s final speaker was Chris Bedford, president of the Center for Economic Security. He told the group that our country is in a crisis of over-consumption, of spirit and of trust. It’s imperative that we “re-localize” our economy, he said, especially in the areas of food, finance and energy. It’s all about economic renewal and community resilience – if we’re to survive, he said, we need to “trust each other, know each other, work with each other and love each other in our communities.”
Why We Need the Stroud Pound
Posted by alice , Monday, 2 February 2009Ruscombe Green Blog - Phillip Booth - Christian Gelleri, Manager of the Chiemgau Currency was in town last month talking about 'A Local Currency for Stroud?' The Chiemgauer is one of Germany's most successful local currencies. It began as a school project and was formally launched in the small Bavarian town of Chiemgau in 2003. There are over 600 participating businesses and 2,600 members who keep nearly 300,000 Chiemgauers in circulation.
How to Print Your Own Money, Build Community & Not Get Arrested by the Feds
Posted by alice , Tuesday, 27 January 2009TreeHugger - Mat McDermott - I want anyone who's got a joke on the tip of their tongue about 'monopoly money' to put it out of their mind. Printing your own local community currency is a perfectly legitimate thing to do—you can't make your own local coins but bills are legal, at least in the US—and can be a great way to encourage shopping at local businesses. It doesn't replace federal printed currency, but augments it by getting people to make the practical and symbolic gesture of supporting local businesses before national chains.
Barter Economy
Posted by alice , Saturday, 24 January 2009BBC - Jack Izzard - It has been a bad week for sterling - at one point the pound dropped to its lowest level against the dollar for 23 years.
Its drastic decline has even prompted some City analysts to hint at of a crisis of confidence in our currency.
But is there an alternative to our beleaguered pound?
Well, yes. Small bartering collectives have been set up across the UK.
"BerkShares" Currency Helps Keep Up Local Western Mass. Economy
Posted by alice , Monday, 19 January 2009Finding Dulcinea - Anne Szustek - Banks in Western Massachusetts’ Berkshires region are helping gear money toward local businesses by way of BerkShares, a currency that offers customers 10 percent off purchases.
Susan Witt, the executive director of Western Massachusetts-based think tank E.F. Schumacher Society, a group focused on local production, was quoted in online publication Worldchanging: “In the last four years, there has been a renewed interest in local economy, local production.”
Community Currency Gaining Visability
Posted by alice , Monday, 19 January 2009The Times-Standard - Donna Tam - With the continuously bleak predictions for our nation's economy, a group of local consumers is urging the community to invest in itself through paper currency that can only be used in Humboldt County.
The Humboldt Exchange Community Currency Project, a volunteer-run group promoting the use of community currency in exchange for local services, produces the colorful bills, featuring local images created by local artists.
Going green: Communities Make Their Own Currencies
Posted by alice , Thursday, 15 January 2009The Associated Press - Rodrique Ngowi - Diana Felber brought her groceries to the
checkout and counted out her cash — purple, blue and green bills that
aremgood only at businesses in western Massachusetts.
Known as "BerkShares," the colorful currency is printed by a nonprofit group
to encourage people to spend close to home in the state's Berkshire region.
Customers who use the money also get a built-in 10 percent discount, since
they can get 100 BerkShares for just $90 at local banks.
When It Comes to Cash, A Thai Village Says, 'Baht, Humbug!'
Posted by alice , Wednesday, 7 January 2009Wall Street Journal - James Hookway - One way to beat the world's credit crisis: Start printing your own money.
The villagers of Santi Suk began creating their own cash here on the sun-bleached plains of northern Thailand following Asia's financial crisis a decade ago.