Local currency

[3] Some definitions: Local currencies aim at using money as a tool to achieve social or environmental objectives.

According to the New Economics Foundation partner Community Currencies in Action:[1] ... money is simply a social technology and the ways in which it is designed, produced and controlled – far from being neutral or predetermined factors – all influence the effects it has upon society at large.Some of the purposes for community currencies identified by Community Currencies in Action[1] include: The Wörgl experiment illustrates some of the common characteristics and major benefits of local currencies.

[10] Local currencies and the Transition Towns movement in the UK have been criticized for failing to address the needs of the wider population, especially lower socio-economic groups.

[12] Such local currency initiatives have been more widely criticized as having limited success in stimulating spending in local economies, and as an unrealistic strategy to reduce carbon emissions.

[19] In 1998, Richard Kay, a senior lecturer at Birmingham City University,[20] wrote a "Multi-registry System" specification for routing and processing community currency transactions using an approach designed to be decentralized, with no single point of control or failure, using the Domain Name System for server discovery.

Salt Spring dollars are a community currency issued by the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation. The currency is used by both tourists and local residents of Salt Spring Island. [ 14 ]