Initiatives to remove the economic growth imperative caused by debt-based currency systems and cultural legacies are inspiring and exciting. Monetary reform movements focus on changing how money systems work as well as how they are used and the purpose for which they are used.

Local Mutual Credit

I spent nearly three years as President of Brisbane Local Exchange Trading System (BrisLETS), a mutual credit system on the Community Exchange System (CES). The experience informed me of the limitations and potential of local mutual credit, which is summarized in an article called A Viable Rival Currency.

Self-Issued Vouchers

Digital Coin is the work of Canadian Paul Grignon, and the concept is a self-issued credit from a specific supplier for a specific commodity which can be used freely, globally and digitally as a medium of exchange until it’s expiry date and/or it is redeemed by the issuer and extinguished. Put simply, this is credit such as vouchers, miles and points given out to potentially loyal customers by those with the capacity to provide services and products we all need. This contrasts starkly with the debt-based commodity money we rely on from banks, who produce nothing and only maintain accounting services that can now be done more efficiently by computer systems.

As a provider of valued services (accommodation) and goods (garden produce), I trialled [sic] the issuance of vouchers from my micro-enterprise as a learning experience and a practical demonstration of how this currency works. These vouchers, issued in return for a favor, were hand-written on the reverse of my business card and could be redeemed with me. The details on the reverse of the card were:

Credit = $ ___. ___
Redeemable for Equanimity Foundation produce (as advertised on the Food and Plants page of the Foundation’s blogsite) and payable to the bearer on or before ________________

However, at such as small scale, it has the negative effect of transactionalizing the gift economy. It is important that a rival currency is viable and at a sufficiently large scale.

The Way Forward

One day in the future, software may make it possible to use these vouchers to buy almost anything. Companies such as Mutual Credit Services are working on such software. Another related innovation is MUTUAL CREDIT ON THE HOLOCHAIN.

Thank you to my neighbour Lillian Geddes of Mutualism Queensland for recommending the following article entitled Currency is Destiny: new currencies for new times.