[seahorse2]

I found this article very interesting. It how a local town is now using and implementing is own local currency. The article talks about how other US towns have done the same thing. It seems to be an ominous sign. It also shows how easily the US culture could be fragmented in time of crisis.


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'G')REAT BARRINGTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - A walk down Main Street in this New England town calls to mind the pictures of Norman Rockwell, who lived nearby and chronicled small-town American life in the mid-20th Century.


So it is fitting that the artist's face adorns the 50 BerkShares note, one of five denominations in a currency adopted by towns in western Massachusetts to support locally owned businesses over national chains.

"I just love the feel of using a local currency," said Trice Atchison, 43, a teacher who used BerkShares to buy a snack at a cafe in Great Barrington, a town of about 7,400 people. "It keeps the profit within the community."

There are about 844,000 BerkShares in circulation, worth $759,600 at the fixed exchange rate of 1 BerkShare to 90 U.S. cents, according to program organizers. The paper scrip is available in denominations of one, five, 10, 20 and 50.

In their 10 months of circulation, they've become a regular feature of the local economy. Businesses that accept BerkShares treat them interchangeably with dollars: a $1 cup of coffee sells for 1 BerkShare, a 10 percent discount for people paying in BerkShares.

Named for the local Berkshire Hills, BerkShares are accepted in about 280 cafes, coffee shops, grocery stores and other businesses in Great Barrington and neighboring towns, including Stockbridge, the town where Rockwell lived for a quarter century.

"BerkShares are cash, and so people have transferred their cash habits to BerkShares," said Susan Witt, executive director of the E.F. Schumacher Society, a nonprofit group that set up the program. "They might have 50 in their pocket, but not 150. They're buying their lunch, their coffee, a small birthday present."

[FoxV]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse2', 'I')t how a local town is now using and implementing is own local currency. The article talks about how other US towns have done the same thing. It seems to be an ominous sign. It also shows how easily the US culture could be fragmented in time of crisis.

[Niagara]

Fellow Canadian members of this forum will get a chuckle out of this. We know our "real" currency is good ol' Canadian Tire Money



Link

Some merchants accept it as payment, including this liquor store in Alberta

[Micki]

At least the Liberty Dollar is fullly gold&silver backed "local currency".
No wonder Fed Reserve is especially targeting them to get them off the market.

libertydollar.org

[perdition79]

Local currencies will not "save" our national (or global) economy; the universal acceptance of the U.S. Dollar is what drives the economy. Local currencies are little more than coupons, and their widespread usage will be a sign that the global economy's screwed.

[seahorse2]

Here's what I find interesting, I'm not trying to say one fiat is better than another, or whether a silver dollar is a better replacement. What I find interesting is the fact that local cities are even considering replacing the dollar in the US with anything else. We always talk about Iran or Russia diversifying, but this is starting to happen in the US. What does that say? That seems a pretty significant psychological shift. I also find it interesting to see how easily diversifying from the dollar can be done and accepted by a local economy. So, it shows how fast and easy our "homogeneous" culture can fragment.

[FoxV]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse2', ' ')What I find interesting is the fact that local cities are even considering replacing the dollar in the US with anything else. We always talk about Iran or Russia diversifying, but this is starting to happen in the US. What does that say? That seems a pretty significant psychological shift.

[seahorse2]

Again, I'm not saying these people are diversifying bc they are doomers. I find it very interesting that they want to diversify for any reason, and that its so easy to do so. There is some kind of psychological shift evidenced in all of this. If nothing else, local pride versus nationalism, maybe good, maybe bad, but its a shift. It is also, apparently, a very easy shift to make. It shows how quickly people can go tribal and how quickly the dollar could be substituted, collapse, i.e. Argentina style. There is a lot of discontent in the US right now which may account for growing American pride. When people feel more pride holding their own local currency over an American greenback, I think that's evidence of a profound shift in psychology. Could be wrong, but seems fairly significant to me.

[I_Like_Plants]

Fiat is OK, what's bad is being based on debt - that's bad.

I live to see "Kuleana Dollahs" back home, will be back to see it soon. I will be a professional bum/street artist/street musician, and will glady take pay in bento.

[Micki]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')iat is OK, what's bad is being based on debt - that's bad.

[Mircea]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seahorse2', ' ') I find it very interesting that they want to diversify for any reason, and that its so easy to do so.

[pup55]

Explore the Magic

This example began in 1987, with considerable success.

The currency is freely exchangeable for goods and services within the community borders, and may sometimes be distributed in limited amounts outside the community to attract visitors.

Pricing of goods within the community are increased by a factor of 100% or so compared to the surrounding area. This allows the system to be profitable. The system works because many of the holders of the currency have limited understanding or knowlege of economics.

[cube]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', '[')url=http://www.explorethemagic.com/disney-dollars.asp]Explore tha Magic[/url]

This example began in 1987, with considerable success.
...

[lys3rg0]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Micki', 'A')t least the Liberty Dollar is fullly gold&silver backed "local currency".
No wonder Fed Reserve is especially targeting them to get them off the market.

libertydollar.org

[mattduke]

Why anyone would overpay so much for metal is beyond me.

[Kingcoal]

Scrip money is about as all-American as it gets. Colonial Scrip was paper currency issued by the colonies before the Revolutionary War. It worked so well, the Crown banished it (literally causing the Revolutionary War.) The Pennsylvania Pound, for example, was a real estate backed currency. If you needed money, you went to the bank and put up your property as collateral. You could borrow up to twice the market value of your property; the interest rate was a fixed 5%. If you defaulted, the government repossessed your property. According to Benjamin Franklin, there was no unemployment, no homelessness and massive economic growth. The colonies didn't have gold, but they did have real estate. People came to this country, rented their home until they had enough money saved to buy property, with which they could then get a loan to build with. With so much money available, jobs were plentiful and well paying. What intrigues me about the system is this:

1. It works, there is precedent.
2. It was completely controlled by the government for the Citizens benefit; it was not a for-profit private enterprise (like the Fed banks.)
3. It was not debt based. As the need for capital rose, so did the money supply.
4. It did not require the amassment of precious metals. Gold backed currencies are a double edged sword; they are prone to currency wars and are very unforgiving during crisis.
5. It benifited the working man, as well as the rich. If you could save money, you could buy property and get the money to improve it and make it productive, which created more jobs, so more people could save and buy more property.