Very interesting writeup by Paul Lamb on the idea that there could be an alternate currency in "goodness." Help your neighbor across the street, earn a couple of chits good for a soda at the local bodega.
"In traditional economics, the nonfinancial contributions we make are basically worthless. Financial transactions and our monetary net worth are all that really matter. Sadly, we have sunk to measuring our individual and national value through debt, surpluses, and productivity gains."
Couldn't agree more. There's a humanity missing in our current definitions of "success." But I'd posit that by adding a financial incentive or value to a good deed might make it feel less like "good" and more like a financial transaction. I lean more towards the idea (that Paul mentions) of a reputation system that doesn't have a direct financial tie - but that is nonetheless valuable.
Not in "traditional" economics, in Milton Friedman's economics. Pretty sure Keynes would go ahead and disagree with you on that one.
Posted by: Me | August 03, 2009 at 02:02 AM
Yes, community currencies are empowering. Best of all, when the local currencies are pegged to the Time Standard of Money (how many dollars per unskilled hour child labor) Hours earned locally can be intertraded with other timebanks globally! In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with an IOU for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours.
U.N. Millennium Declaration UNILETS Resolution C6 to governments is for a time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture.
See http://youtube.com/kingofthepaupers on growth of the international time-trading network.
Posted by: KingofthePaupers | August 04, 2009 at 02:44 AM