Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
The Harringay Pound?
Not as ridiculous as it may sound. They're doing it in Lewes and all over the world.............
Tags for Forum Posts: local currency, local ideas
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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Money is actually a very fascinating subject. A very good book I read about it a few years ago is talked about here.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Looks interesting. If I were feeling too lazy to read it, what would you say are most fascinating points for you from the book?
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The fact that money is now so ephemeral?
At Bretton Woods in 1944 the modern system of currency exchange was set out. Everything would be convertible to US dollars and the Americans promised to keep enough gold to cover the dollars they issue, so dollars were convertible to gold (I think that's it, the wikipedia article seems to have it all). Nixon decided to break this in 1971 (money troubles) and since then money has represented whatever the government of the time thinks it can get away with.
The author of the book was the man who designed the euro. He proposes that to rid the world of the scourges of currency fluctuations, countries go back to issuing money that they can convert into some kind of asset rather than just issuing money by 'fiat'. For New Zealand that asset would have been a basket of their commonly exported goods; sheep, wine, kiwifruit and people. If you were unhappy with the currency - convert it into the basket of goods. He was also keen on some kind of demurrage penalty to stop people hoarding money/"baskets of goods" and to cover the cost of storing the goods.
Some fascinating stuff about how the Egyptians discovered that a farmer in debt worked harder than a farmer not, a lovely parable called the eleventh round and a fairly even handed chapter that I think was entitled "whatever happened to usary?". Don't read it before Guns, germs and steel but I do recommend it.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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You reference Dave's Complexsystemofpipes blog. I know Dave quite well ... in blog world.
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Permalink Reply by David T on
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The Totnes barter system ("Acorns" ) was in full swing when my daughter was at Dartington in the early 90's! She earned Acorns by giving music lessons & spent them in the hairdressers - or on lentils when she was really broke.
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Totnes is working towards becoming what is called a 'Transition Town'.
Their mission is two-fold:
* To explore and then follow pathways of practical actions that will reduce our carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels.
* To build the town's resilience, that is, its ability to withstand shocks from the outside, through being more self reliant in areas such as food, energy, health care, jobs and economics.
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Totnes = 4 square miles surrounded by reality
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........and the latest in the growing list of towns to have it's own currency is Stroud in Gloucester.
From today, Stroud Pounds can be obtained in exchange for Sterling Pounds.
The Stroud local currency (‘Stroud Pounds’) is an initiative to support and stimulate the local economy. It has been designed to benefit consumers, traders, businesses and local charities.
Read more on the Stroud Pound website.............
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All the council need to do is sprinkle some "haringey" money amongst their staff that is redeemable against council tax and we could be in business. Money doesn't grow on trees but it does appear by magic.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Will the Brixton Pound stick around? Article on local currencies from the Guardian
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Even the euro is probably in big trouble. You need a lot behind a currency by fiat.
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