If you live in Brooklyn and you’re sick of looking at George Washington‘s face every time you buy coffee, things may be looking up. Inspired by cities like Madison, Wisc., and Ithaca, N.Y., a group of artists in Brooklyn is developing an alternative currency, the Brooklyn Torch, for the borough. The group hopes the currency will improve neighborhood unity and encourage citizens to shop locally. Mary Jeys, who initiated the effort, says “This medium of exchange has more to do with meeting people and feeling that you’re connected to a community versus a monetary system.” (HT: Daily Intel) [%comments]
Cash, Credit, or Torches?
TAGS: currency
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Nice to see the Ithaca Hours sticking around close to 20 yrs later. Backed by labor you can actually get for something, it’s the real thing, unlike gold and silver which you can’t eat when it comes down to it anymore than a greenback. Can melt it into shotgun slugs I guess, or solder cans of produce shut for a long winter’s storage.
Cory,
The Euro has hardly been a perfect solution in Europe… Ask the Spanish and the Italians how they feel about the Euro at the moment. Continued economic pressure in Spain could put real pressure on the Euro, and the Eurozone countries…
According to the article, the IRS says local currencies are legal. Does that mean that if I get paid in local currency, I don’t have to pay taxes?
@ Cory
“Why don’t they call Europe and ask them how that local currency thing worked out for them. There’s a reason they shifted to the Euro”
Greetings from Europe,
We had national currencies for far most of the economically developing era, which worked pretty well.
The Euro, on the other hand, does not work very well. The introduction of the Euro created a rise in prices while the value of the Euro itself has fallen significantly compared to the remaining national currencies.
Yes there is a reason that the Euro was introduced. The reason was the politicians’ desire for power and their ideological desire to form a United States of Europe.
Burlington, VT had a local currency for awhile too but I haven’t heard much about it lately. http://www.vermontwoman.com/articles/0306/burlington_bread.shtml
This has all but happened in Iceland where taxis, door-to-door salespeople, hot dog vendors and even middle school candy stalls take credit and debit cards.
I don’t even like taking cash from my friends when they owe me money, it’s easier and more convenient for them to transfer it directly into my bank account. When I lived there I’d go several months without seeing any currency at all and I haven’t written a check there ever.
The country’s financial woes aside, it does have an excellent retail banking setup in my opinion.
England is halfway there already. As soon as payment processing becomes cheaper pubs will abolish the 10 pound minimum on cards and then it’ll truly be cashless. You can go years without visiting a bank branch. I wrote a check there once but it was a voided blank one I mailed in to open a savings account online.
America, on the other hand, is at least 20 years behind.
I don’t know why anyone would rather see a torch representing a smaller tribe that stands for nothing in particular other than living close together, than the man who helped create the political system they’re living under. American balkanization is creepy.
I suppose promissory notes, checks and credits cards are a form of alternative currency too. I am surrounded by people who think gold is the only real “money”. Everyone knows that canned food is the only real money, since I can get all the gold I want if I have all the canned food.
The Iphone has a new gadget that allows you to photograph a check and it automatically deposit it in you account. It is easy to preduct a gadget where I enter an amount in my Iphone and bump yours (or call you) to send you the money. The Japanese already use something like this for routine purchases from vending machines.