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Post by auntieannie on Sept 1, 2015 22:53:54 GMT 2
A new local currency was launched today.
Do you have one of those where you live?
What are your thoughts on the matter?
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 1, 2015 23:07:30 GMT 2
There is the Bristol pound. Our buses say they accept it. I have never seen one.
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Post by outside cat @wino on Sept 2, 2015 3:23:10 GMT 2
Australian Peso?
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Post by OnlyMark on Sept 2, 2015 8:12:11 GMT 2
Money is only money because people accept that it has a value. If no-one believed that a certain piece of paper is worth something then it has no value at all. Take for example the Scottish pound note. Many in England have never seen one and many shops have refused to accept it as currency. Thus it has no value.
With a local currency it seems a good idea and has advantages, but only if it is accepted as "worth" something.
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Post by auntieannie on Sept 2, 2015 11:00:55 GMT 2
interesting point, Mark!
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Post by auntieannie on Sept 2, 2015 11:01:39 GMT 2
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Post by Voy on Sept 2, 2015 15:17:47 GMT 2
what mark says is so true. one of the mantras of a banker ( sorry...) is that there are only 4 things you can do with money:
buy it, sell it, borrow it or lend it. -- all of which center on perceived value. but it's just another commodity and has no specialness about it at all...
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Post by shrjeff on Sept 2, 2015 16:53:25 GMT 2
and the corollary is that an object's value is merely what others are willing to pay for it...
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 2, 2015 18:24:25 GMT 2
I can't see the point of having a local currency. Could I spend a Bristol pound in London? I doubt it. I was once paid about £200 in Scottish pounds. I took them to a branch of a Scottish bank and made them change the notes into English ones.
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vinnyd
Happy Potters
Posts: 335
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Post by vinnyd on Sept 2, 2015 22:48:55 GMT 2
The fact that you can only spend it locally is the whole point. The money stays in the local economy, or so the theory goes.
They tried one here about five years ago but as far as I know it never took off. I saw a couple of signs saying they accepted it but I never saw it in the wild.
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Post by auntieannie on Sept 2, 2015 23:22:27 GMT 2
yes, vinny got it. the whole point is to think a bit more about local economies. it doesn't mean you only ever buy local. it means you make an effort towards spending more of your hard earned cash on local independent producers and service providers.
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Post by tiltedflipcurves on Sept 3, 2015 0:20:16 GMT 2
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Post by shrjeff on Sept 3, 2015 6:06:24 GMT 2
here supermarket chains issue scrip at a discount which obviously makes people buy in their store... we buy them for major chains which we then provide in lieu of cash assistance, letting the recipient choose which is the most convenient for them...
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Post by Netsuke on Sept 3, 2015 8:43:37 GMT 2
what mark says is so true. one of the mantras of a banker ( sorry...) is that there are only 4 things you can do with money: buy it, sell it, borrow it or lend it. -- all of which center on perceived value. but it's just another commodity and has no specialness about it at all... Ha! If money has no specialness, why do so many want so much of the stuff? ETA: It's so pretty. It looks like play money. (The Bristol pounds) |
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Post by Voy on Sept 3, 2015 14:16:37 GMT 2
because it's easier to use than a cart load of wheat..,itfits in your pocket..but it's still just something with imputed value..same as gold , or oil or or or..
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Post by welle on Sept 3, 2015 17:53:23 GMT 2
I'm not aware of any local currencies being used here. For a while there was a lot of talk about bit coin but it hasn't really taken so far.
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 3, 2015 19:42:34 GMT 2
I suppose the pound is a local currency compared with the euro.
The buses round here say they accept the Bristol pound. How does that benefit the local economy compared with paying with an English pound? And suppose I go into a shop in Chipping Sodbury High Street and buy a can of Heinz baked beans and pay with a Bristol rather than an English pound, how does that benefit the local economy? Or should I only purchase locally made goods? In which case it doesn't matter what currency I use.
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Post by missalaska on Sept 3, 2015 21:13:38 GMT 2
Money is confidence, nothing more nothing less.
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Post by auntieannie on Sept 3, 2015 21:44:36 GMT 2
they are interested in its circulation.
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vinnyd
Happy Potters
Posts: 335
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Post by vinnyd on Sept 4, 2015 13:13:39 GMT 2
You're making the wrong comparisons, Baz. If you buy a can of beans from a local vendor, it doesn't matter what you pay with. But (the theory goes) it is better to buy your beans from a local grocer than from a big box store 30 km away, or on the internet. And those places won't take the local currency. So the bus company that accepts local pounds and then pays its employees and suppliers in local pounds is ensuring that when the employees and suppliers use them to buy beans, the beans will be bought locally..
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Post by Baz Faz on Sept 4, 2015 18:41:43 GMT 2
I don't have to drive 30 kms to a big box store. Waitrose is 5 minutes on foot from my front door.
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vinnyd
Happy Potters
Posts: 335
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Post by vinnyd on Sept 4, 2015 22:03:54 GMT 2
I still think you are missing the point.
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