Getting back to a barter and trade economy

If globalism has got you down, take heart.

A flourishing movement that seeks to supplement the almighty dollar with an all-local currency is providing refuge around the country, and world, for those who feel that mega-economic forces are stripping individuals and communities of control over their own affairs.

"There is tremendous interest and energy" in the movement to establish local or community-based currencies, says Susan Witt, director of the E.F. Schumacher Society of Great Barrington, Mass.

The Schumacher Society is a firm supporter of the concept, and Ms. Witt says there is "revival" under way right now.

The concept is simple: Establishing a local currency within a town or region allows residents to exchange goods or services in a way that guarantees the currency will stay local and not seep out into the great sea of global commerce.

In communities with local currencies, the US dollar continues to circulate and remains the backbone of the local economy. But as seen by advocates, local money provides a powerful tool for community cohesiveness and rejuvenation.

Seed money

The north coast hamlet of Mendocino, Calif., plans to launch a local currency called Seed in the next few days. Further down the coast, a Time Dollar system that allows community service organizations to trade services is about to begin in Santa Cruz. And last year, local currencies became available in places as diverse as Toronto and Berea, Ky.

All this activity follows already well-established programs like the Ithaca Hours in New York and the Local Economic Trading System (LETS) pioneered in Canada and now operating in Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and in several European countries.

There are about 2,000 local currency systems in operation around the world, according to Bernard Lietaer, a former Belgium central banker who is now setting up a clearing house for community currencies from his base as a research fellow at the University of California at Berkeley.

Local currencies flourished in the US following the Great Depression, when jobs and money were scarce. Over the years, stressed communities have often created local currencies or scrip as a means to allow people to trade skills and goods, even when they're unemployed and have no traditional dollars to spend.

Fibers of a community

But today, the motivation behind local currencies stems more from a view that communities are losing their sense of interconnectedness among residents, who don't know each other and who buy goods that are imported with dollars that are often earned from a distant corporation.

Page: 1 | 2