Designer Currencies — Feasta

For the layman, getting past our ‘one currency fits all’ model can be a challenge. Money is so firmly embedded in our daily lives that we give as much thought to money-itself (as opposed to the lack of it) as we do to the air that we breathe.

Pointing out that there are other well established currencies (like Airmiles, Tesco points, timebank hours, Brixton pound) helps a bit, but these operate in niches. The Swiss WIR experience is not widely known or talked about. Even the terminology is instructive – there are ‘alternative’ currencies (read this as ‘wacky’) and complementary currencies (read as ‘non-threatening: we’ll just work away; you wont even notice we’re here’).

For the sort of serious currency suggestions being explored by Feasta and others, I prefer the term Designer Currencies. They are ‘designed’ for a specific purpose....

Read the rest at Feasta (The foundation for the Economics of Sustainability), The Parallel Punt

Out of paradigm but an interesting quick look at alternative thinking born of necessity.