Friday, April 24, 2009
Local Communities Start Printing Own Currency
A few people have mentioned this to me; here's a USA Today article (so it must be true):
I'm not really sure how to process this. I think it is just an elaborate form of coupon clipping, but it surprises me that it has taken off.
A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.
Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.
The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.
I'm not really sure how to process this. I think it is just an elaborate form of coupon clipping, but it surprises me that it has taken off.
Comments:
The Blackadder Says:
The idea seems to be tied into the whole 'buy local' movement. So if it's hard to make sense of it, that might be why.
The idea seems to be tied into the whole 'buy local' movement. So if it's hard to make sense of it, that might be why.
# posted by 
: April 24, 2009 at 2:34 PM
: April 24, 2009 at 2:34 PM
No kidding. I have been looking for Ontario grown avocados for a while now. No luck. Damn those evil corporations for planting avocado trees only in warm countries.
Some of these have been around for a long time, and yes they do seem to be just a form of "local coupons", with the only real goal being to encourage buying locally. But I think a big part of what limits them is that these currencies are by necessity tied to the US dollar -- it would be illegal to establish one that weren't (that's my understanding anyway.)
My question is: Are these currencies inflationary? Do they add to the monetary base of the whole country? ...or even to their own localities?
My question is: Are these currencies inflationary? Do they add to the monetary base of the whole country? ...or even to their own localities?
James,
Well you don't want to give the discount to everybody, just to the people who go to the trouble of getting the coupons. Just like a store printing up coupons and putting them in the paper: "Why not just lower prices?"
Bretigne, I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on how much people accepted them as substitutes for actual currency.
Well you don't want to give the discount to everybody, just to the people who go to the trouble of getting the coupons. Just like a store printing up coupons and putting them in the paper: "Why not just lower prices?"
Bretigne, I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on how much people accepted them as substitutes for actual currency.
Bob,
I have never understood the economics of that. Then again, I was never good at accounting (hence I didn't become an account but an 'economist'....)
So, it's just local loyalty coupons then. Not sure how that solves the problem of 'not enough money', whatever that's supposed to mean.
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I have never understood the economics of that. Then again, I was never good at accounting (hence I didn't become an account but an 'economist'....)
So, it's just local loyalty coupons then. Not sure how that solves the problem of 'not enough money', whatever that's supposed to mean.
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