UsuryFree Community Currencies
CategoriesThis article is being posted to Bloggers Parliament as a suggested solution to the problem of Economic imbalances/Money, in recognition of the fact that our current monetary system is deeply inequitable, leaving the producers of value (all of us who work) with crumbs, while a large part of the resources produced is automatically transferred to those who happen to have accumulated the greatest piles of monetary resources.
Tommy-Usury: Free reports from the ongoing International Seminar About Financial Responsibilities and UsuryFree Community Currencies at UQAM, the University of Quebec in Montreal.
22 November 2003
In the first interim report, Tommy says Bernard Lietaer presented the concept of complementary community currencies. Litaer's prediction: "Orthodox economics will fight complementary community currencies just like conventional medicine fights the introduction of acupuncture and other alternative healing methods."27 November 2003
A second interim report on the presentation of Molly Scott, Professor at the University of Wales, who relates of experiments with local currencies, designed to liven up the economies of villages that suffered from the closure of coal mines - their former principal source of income and economic activity.28 November 2003
The third interim report relates the talk of Michael Linton, the software engineer who designed the original usuryfree LETS (Local Employment Trading System) software in the early 1980's. Tommy also adds his own thoughts on how to expand the local employment trading system into an internet-based world wide exchange of "hours", the currency LETS are based on.
* - * - * - * - * - * - * - *22 November 2003
Interim Report on The International Seminar About Financial Responsibilities and UsuryFree Community Currencies at UQAM
By Tommy-Usury: FreeThe Seminar began on Wednesday, November 19th, and continues until noon on Saturday, November 22nd, 2003. After Registration welcome addresses were presented on Wednesday evening. On Thursday morning the opening key-note address was given by Bernard Lietaer who is President of Access Foundation. He is also author of nine books on money and finances, including The Future of Money‚ (Random House, 2001), The Mystery of Money‚ (Riemann Verlag, 2000) and a book for kids, called 'The World of Money' (Arena Verlag, 2001) and Human Wealth, Beyond Greed and Scarcity‚ to be published, December 2003.
Formerly professor of international finance at the University of Louvain, Bernard Lietaer is currently a fellow at the Center for Sustainable Resources at the University of California, Berkeley and beginning in the fall of 2003 he accepted to become professor at Naropa University, Boulder, Colorado.
Bernard presented evidence that many countries of the world are currently experiencing an economic downturn. He briefly outlined two solutions being pursued to cut deficits at the various levels of government. The first solution, most often implemented but least effective is cutting social programs which rarely work because it is those social programs which are needed most that are most likely to be cut.
The second and more successful solution which is being pursued by out-of-the-box thinkers is to invent and implement a new approach to fund these much-needed social programs without incurring additional debt.
Bernard cited Japan as a world leader in seeking new approaches by promoting complementary community currencies to solve the economic strife that has been constantly plaguing Japan since the early 1990‚s. Bernard explained that since money is simply an agreement, within a community, to use something as a medium of exchange many local communities in Japan have taken the lead to make new agreements about money.
According to Bernard, the Japanese recognize that fiat money is created out of nothing by the chartered banks and/or the central bank and then manipulated to be in scarce supply under the guise of the risk of inflation. Since being motivated to action in the early 1990's, these innovative Japanese communities have launched projects whereby individuals are encouraged to create and spend their own complementary community currency to operate in parallel with their national currency.
Bernard Lietaer shared a most significant quote by Alan Greenspan: I foresee new private currency markets in the 21st Century‚ and a timely quote by the Japanese Minister of the Economy 2002: The use of complementary currency can bring an end to the long lasting deflation of the Japanese economy by supplying additional monies of various types at the local level.
Bernard Lietaer's favourite form of complementary community currency is a mutual credit currency, which is commonly created by the participants themselves to facilitate a transaction. The mutual credit currency is referred to as a simultaneous debit (for the buyer) and a credit (for the seller). The LETS (Local Employment Trading System) software and the Time-Dollar software are two of the most popular models of mutual credit currencies. Bernard Lietaer pointed out that mutual credit systems never have a shortage of currency and neither do they cause inflation - two weaknesses of our orthodox, usury-based money system.
In his presentation, Bernard suggested that we-the-people at the fringe of the pyramids of power ought not expect creative solutions to come from our respective federal governments as politicians and bureaucrats are least likely to entertain thoughts and suggestions from out-of-the-box thinkers. In his summary comments about government Bernard said: We are entering a new world of economics, where money need not be scarce. Then he added: Who better to resolve local issues than the local people.
According to Bernard Lietaer, Japan is exploring more than 40 different types of complementary community currencies in a series of projects defined as Eco Money Projects. These Eco Money Projects are experimenting with a variety of
(a) technologies - from high-tech smart cards to low-tech paper notes
(b) scales - from mountain villages of 800 people to prefectures of 10 million and
(c) complexity of function - from single function to 27 different functions on a single smart card, elderly and/or child care, local unemployment, small business loyalty schemes, disaster-preparedness training etc.
In summary, Japan continues to test models to determine which will work best and for what purposes so that eventually they can initiate large scale projects with the optimal strategy.
Bernard explained the concept of Fureai Kippu whereby the Japanese create Caring Relationship Tickets for exchange in 372 operational systems that permit hundreds of thousands of senior citizens to live longer in their family homes. Seems like North Americans might be encouraged to copy this model to better care for our elderly.
Bernard explained how the city of Yamato creates a municipal currency known as Love (Local Value Exchange) and encourages the use of smart cards to facilitate transactions. The quality of life is improving in Yamato because of the implementation of projects involving complementary
community currencies.At this time in his research, Bernard Lietaer does not entertain the possibility that complementary community currencies have the potential to replace national currencies. Myself and other visionaries do see the power and potential of the optimal complementary community currency - a universal time currency - eventually replacing all national currencies to become the currency-of-choice that will best serve us locally, nationally and internationally. This is because the standard unit of one hour is
measured in 60 minutes in every country of the world thereby eliminating the need to pay banks an exchange rate on the sovereign national currencies of their respective countries.In summarizing his Practical Findings Bernard Lietaer made these points:
1. In the field of complementary community currencies our practice is far ahead of theory and it's time that the academics catch up with the practical experience of the doers in the complementary community currency movement.
2. Contrary to the key economic theoretical hypothesis assumed by Adam Smith, money is not value neutral.
3. The implementation of complementary community currencies solves social problems.
Bernard Lietaer said: It's time to leave Monetary Flatland and he pointed out that in 2003 the complementary community currency movement is where the Wright Brothers - the leaders of the flight and airplane movement were in 1903. In closing, Bernard stated: Orthodox economics will fight complementary community currencies just like conventional medicine fights the introduction of acupuncture and other alternative healing methods.
More later - Tommy-Usury: Free
27 November 2003
Interim Report II on The International Seminar About Financial Responsibilities and UsuryFree Community Currencies at UQAM
By Tommy-Usury: FreeIt is unfortunate that the usuryfree experience is the reality that most people believe to be impossible. - Tommy-Usury: Free
It's time! Yes it's time indeed for Interim Report II about my experiences at the International Seminar About Financial Responsibilities and UsuryFree Community Currencies at UQAM.
Some readers were still not sure of the whereabouts of UQAM which stands for University of Quebec at Montreal. UQAM is located just east of downtown Montreal at the corner of St. Catherine and St Denis.
My understanding is that UQAM is the first (and only) university in Canada to host an International Seminar of the topic of UsuryFree Community Currencies. Bravo UQAM! Hopefully, other universities in Canada and elsewhere will now follow UQAM's lead and hold Full Conferences and/or Mini-Conferences of the topic of UsuryFree Community Currencies.
I will commence Interim Report II by continuing with Molly Scott's presentation on Thursday, November 20th, 2003. Molly Scott, Professor, University of Wales made a presentation which focused on the roles of money within capitalism and resolving the conflict between these roles. Molly identified four roles of money:
1. lubricate and facilitate economic exchanges
2. underwrite exchange of goods and/or services between nations
3. source of income via investment
4. speculative commodity
Molly reflected on the obvious conflicts between these roles. For example, Molly pointed out the conflict between 1 and 3 (facilitation and income generation) by explaining how these roles are incompatible in poorer national or regional economies. Molly also focused on the conflict between 2 and 4 (underwriting for trade and for speculation). She proposed that working to solve these conflicts will lead us to social justice.
Next Molly talked about her research project in the Rhondda-Cynon-Jaff Valley in the coal mining area of Wales. Her findings reveal that poor liquidity and leakage (money flowing from the local economy) are key causes for floundering and/or disappearing regional economies.
To overcome these shortfalls, Molly explained that the local communities were increasing local liquidity and plugging the leakage through the introduction of complementary community currencies thereby re-building their respective local communities in the coal mining area of Wales.
On reviewing
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