Date | 24/11/2014 | Organiser | Sue |
Time | 7:30pm | Secretaries | Peter |
Location | Quaker Meeting House | Type of meeting | Meet-up |
Attendees (add yourself if missing) |
23 present, of whom about half were new |
presenter: Dr Jonathan Warner
Jonathan gave an informative and well-received talk about community currencies - both their past history and current applications. He illustrated it through his personal involvement with setting up the "Squamish dollar" in British Columbia.
The slides can be downloaded here
141124 Should we have a Sheffield Pound.ppt (warning 16.5Mb, lots of illustrations!)
141124 The Squamish Dollar.ppt
There wasn't a separate discussion, as the speaker engaged the audience in discussion throughout his presentation. I have captured some of the discussion below (apologies for anything I've missed)
Overview
Many things can be used as currencies including bank notes, private currencies, business incentives (like Air Miles, Green Shield stamps), military scrip etc. Most, but not all, are denominated in national currency and, in general, backed by 100% reserves.
Currency has social implications, as well as just a means of exchange. It is valued for how it looks and feels, and can become collectable
It's not the same as LETS (Local Exchange Trading Schemes) which are members-only and do not have a physical form. They tend to have more limited usage.
Numerous historical examples were illustrated and discussed (see the Powerpoint presentation)
Squamish dollar
Dr Warner had been involved in a scheme to set up a local currency in Squamish BC. He described in detail the objectives and obstacles (see presentation, above). In the end, the scheme failed to take off due to difficulty in securing seed capital.
Local currencies in the UK
The biggest (by value) is the Bristol pound (>£250,000 in circulation). The biggest by penetration are probably Brixton and Totnes
Bristol are thinking of allowing local taxes to be paid in Bristol pounds.
"Rusting" (also called demurrage, Gesellian money)
Various schemes can be used to gradually reduce the value of currency, this is intended to increase the velocity of circulation and prevent hoarding
Leakage
This is where the number of redeemable notes in circulation falls, eg. due to being lost, becoming souvenirs, or it can be engineered by giving notes an expiry date. Similarly to rusting, it allows the issuer to make a 'profit' (seigniorage) which, in practice, is often sufficient to repay the cost of launching the currency. Any excess over costs can be redistributed to the community.
Non-convertible currencies
Some currencies are not denominated in the national currency, and so cannot be changed back. eg Robert Owen and others "labour hours".
Some examples of currencies introduced to fight poverty and unemployment : Bangla-pesa , Hawarden scrip , seed stock (started by Michael Linton, who devised the LETS idea).
The future
Several of the community currencies are moving into mobile payment methods
Is it time for a Sheffield pound?
The question was not answered - but it's not something to undertake lightly. Many of the successful community currencies have been launched by the Transition network, and it would seem that Transition Sheffield would be most likely group to take this forward. Unfortunately, there was no-one present from Transition Sheffield, but the content of the talk would be a useful resource for them.
For those wishing to explore further, Dr Warner suggests International Journal of Community Currency Research