METABOSTON - Local activists in the Berkshires created a local currency called BerkShares
to encourage the local economy. Tim Harford questions whether they do any
economic good but thinks they may build community ties:
"The real benefits, if they exist, are not economic but social, and best
explained not by an economist like me but by a sociologist such as Ed Collom
of the University of Southern Maine.
Slate Magazine - Tim Harford - I was recently invited to appear on radio to provide the economists'
perspective on the costs and benefits of local exchange trading schemes,
which are alternative currencies that circulate around a small community.
This made me scratch my head a bit. I could not think of any real benefits,
but then I could not really think of any serious costs, either.
The Independent - Rob Sharp - If you were to nip down to Devon's Totnes market on a Saturday looking to
buy some spelt flour pancakes, crêpes or falafels, then you might just
encounter Lou Brown, who is a remarkably fine cook. But she has another,
non-culinary distinction. Unlike most businesses in the country, Brown does
not deal in currency with a picture of the Queen's head on it. No, instead,
her change features an image much closer to home. The town where she lives.