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Judith D. Schwartz
TIME
Dec. 14, 2008
Most of us take for granted that those rectangular
green slips of paper we keep in our wallets are inviolable:
the physical embodiment of value. But alternative forms
of money have a long history, and appear to be growing
in popularity. It's not merely barter, or primitive
means of exchange like, say, seashells or beads. Beneath
the financial radar, in hip U.S. towns or South African
townships, in shops, markets, and even banks, throughout
the world people are exchanging goods and services via
thousands of currency types that look nothing like official
tender.
Alternative means of trade often surface during tough
economic times. "When money gets dried up and there
are still needs to be met in society, people come up
with creative ways to meet those needs," says Peter
North, a senior lecturer in geography at the University
of Liverpool, author of two books on the subject. He
refers to the "scrips" issued in the U.S. and Europe
during the Great Depression that kept money flowing,
and the massive barter exchanges involving millions
of people that emerged amidst runaway inflation in Argentina
in 2000. "People were kept from starving [this way],"
he says. (Find
out 10 things to do with your money.)
Closer to home, "Ithaca Hours," with a livable hourly
wage as the standard, were launched during the 1991
recession to sustain Ithaca, New York's local economy
and stem the loss of jobs. "Hours," which are legal
and taxable, circulate within the community, moving
from local shop to local artisan and back, rather than
"leaking" out into the larger monetary system. The logo
on the Hour reads: "In Ithaca We Trust".
Alternative (or "complementary") currencies range from
quaint to robust, simple to high-tech. There are "greens"
from the Lettuce Patch Bank at the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage
in rural Northeastern Missouri. In Western Massachusetts
one finds fine-artist-designed BerkShares, which are
convertible to U.S. dollars. According to Susan Witt,
Executive Director of the E.F. Schumacher Society (the
nonprofit behind the currency) more than $2 million
in BerkShares "have been issued through the 12 branches
of five [local] banks." And in South Africa, proprietary
software keeps track of Community Exchange System (CES)
"Talents"; one ambitious plan is to make Khayelitsha,
a vast, desolate township of perhaps a million inhabitants
near Cape Town, a self-sustaining community.
The currencies are generally used in conjunction with
conventional money, as in using local currency at the
farmer's market and regular greenbacks at the supermarket.
"It doesn't try in any way to replace cash," says Christoph
Hensch, a Swiss national and former banker now living
in Christchurch, New Zealand. Rather, it offers a way
"for people to share and redeem value they have in the
community." He says the currencies are most useful in
geographical areas or social sectors where money doesn't
flow sufficiently, citing for example New Zealand's
Golden Bay, which is so remote that it sometimes nearly
functions as its own economy.
Advocates of alternative currencies say that they are
a means of empowerment for those languishing on the
margins of fiscal life, granting economic agency to
people like the elderly, disabled, or under-employed
who have little opportunity to earn money. For example,
in some systems one can "bank" Time Dollars for tasks
like childcare and changing motor oil. It's not whether
you're employed or what financial assets you have that
matter, says Les Squires, a consultant on social networking
software who has been working with groups developing
alternative currencies. Each person has "value" which
is "exchangeable" based on time spent or a given task.
Read the rest of the article here (includes UK examples):
TIME
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