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9th February 2014, 22:38
#1
New ideas around Money
A Massachusetts local currency gets international attention
A Dutch nonprofit provides $500,000 grant to start loan program for increasingly popular BerkShares.
The currency is available only in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts. The area, which long ago embraced the organic and shop-local movements, decided in 2006 to take it a step further by creating its own currency. Town leaders hoped it would encourage people to shop only in stores in Berkshire County.
People can now walk into five banks across the county and change dollars into BerkShares. More than 400 businesses accept the alternative currency. Now 140,000 bills are in circulation, in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 that bear images of local heroes and landscapes.
http://america.aljazeera.com/article...attention.html
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Calabash (9th February 2014), Calz (10th February 2014), eaglespirit (9th February 2014), Melidae (10th February 2014), modwiz (9th February 2014), Moonlight (9th February 2014), ronin (9th February 2014), Sooz (10th February 2014)
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9th February 2014, 22:41
#2
And what about time as currency?
NEW YORK — Carmen Barbosa used to work in a Bronx factory stitching bathrobes designed by Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers for $8 an hour. The factory closed five years ago. Now Barbosa teaches a knitting class at a recreation center in Washington Heights on Friday mornings from 10 until noon, for which she receives two time credits per class. She has more than 650 hours logged in her time bank account.
Barbosa, 75, is a member of the largest time bank in the country, coordinated by the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. Founded in 2006, it now has more than 3,000 members. Time bankers teach classes — current offerings include tai chi, knitting, stress management and calligraphy. They also cook, clean, buy each other groceries, tutor, fix computers, pet-sit and lay tile. No money is ever exchanged. They offer one another their time, measured in hour-long units. All labor is created equal: An hour spent balancing a checkbook is no different than an hour cleaning a toilet. “Everyone’s time is worth the same,” says Mashi Blech, the founder and director of the VNSNY time bank.
http://america.aljazeera.com/article...scurrency.html
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The Following 6 Users Say Thank You to BabaRa For This Useful Post:
Calabash (9th February 2014), Calz (10th February 2014), eaglespirit (9th February 2014), Melidae (10th February 2014), modwiz (9th February 2014), Moonlight (9th February 2014)
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9th February 2014, 22:41
#3