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Complementary currency

{{short description|Medium of exchange complementing national currencies}}

{{More citations needed|date=February 2023}}

File:SIMEC. Local alternative currency introduced by Giacinto Auriti in Guardiagrele.jpg thinker and law professor Giacinto Auriti introduced in his birthplace Guardiagrele alternative currency banknotes, which were shortly after confiscated by Italian authorities.{{cite web|date=2011|title=La crisi e il sogno di un'altra moneta|trans-title=The crisis and the dream of another money|language=it|url=https://www.televideo.rai.it/televideo/pub/articolo.jsp?id=13141|publisher=RAI|access-date=13 February 2025}}]]

A complementary currency is a currency or medium of exchange that is not necessarily a national currency, but that is thought of as supplementing or complementing national currencies.{{r|"ccto"|page=3}}{{r|ccg2006|page=2}} Complementary currencies are usually not legal tender and their use is based on agreement between the parties exchanging the currency. According to Jérôme Blanc of Laboratoire d'Économie de la Firme et des Institutions, complementary currencies aim to protect, stimulate or orientate the economy.{{r|cc|page=7}} They may also be used to advance particular social, environmental, or political goals.{{r|hal|page=4}}

When speaking about complementary currencies, a number of overlapping and often interchangeable terms are in use: local or community currencies are complementary currencies used within a locality or other form of community (such as business-based or online communities); regional currencies are similar to local currencies, but are used within a larger geographical region; and sectoral currencies are complementary currencies used within a single economic sector, such as education or health care. Many private currencies are complementary currencies issued by private businesses or organizations. Other terms include alternative currency, auxiliary currency, and microcurrency. Mutual credit is a form of alternative currency, and thus any form of lending that does not go through the banking system can be considered a form of alternative currency. Barters are another type of alternative currency. These are actually exchange systems, which trade only items, without the use of any currency whatsoever. Finally, LETS is a special form of barter that trades points for items. One point stands for one worker-hour of work, and is thus a time-based currency.

Purposes

Current complementary currencies have often been designed intentionally to address specific issues, for example to increase financial stability.{{r|crisis}} Most complementary currencies have multiple purposes and/or are intended to address multiple issues. They can be useful for communities that do not have access to financial capital, and for adjusting peoples' spending behavior.{{r|boot}} The 2006 Annual Report of the Worldwide Database of Complementary Currency Systems presented a survey of 150 complementary currency systems in which 94 respondents said that "all reasons" were selected, among cooperation, micro/small/medium enterprise development, activating the local market, reducing the need for national currency, and community development.{{r|"DeMeulenaere"}}

Aims may include:

  • resocialisation and emancipation
  • lifeboat currencies{{Technical inline|date=November 2019}}
  • to increase financial stability{{r|crisis}}
  • to reduce carbon emissions, by encouraging localisation of trade and relationships
  • to encouraging use of under-used resources{{r|ccg2006|page=2}}
  • to recognise the informal economy
  • promote local businesses
  • maintaining purchasing power, value preservation

=Advantages=

Alternative currencies increase in activity if the local economy slows down, and decrease in activity if the local economy goes up.{{cite web|last=Stodder|first=James|title=Implications for Macroeconomic Stability|url=http://www.lietaer.com/images/Stodder_Reciprocal_Exchange.pdf|access-date=3 April 2014|date=January 2005|archive-date=30 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830062127/http://www.lietaer.com/images/Stodder_Reciprocal_Exchange.pdf|url-status=dead}}{{Dubious|No mention of alternative currency|reason=No mention of alternative currency, because they aren't called alternative currencies?|date=June 2015}} They are most successful if the currency circulates within the users, in cycles or loops, as shown in an analysis of the use of Sardex by 1,477 entities in Sardinia in 2013 and 2014.{{Cite journal |last1=Iosifidis |first1=George |last2=Charette |first2=Yanick |last3=Airoldi |first3=Edoardo M. |last4=Littera |first4=Giuseppe |last5=Tassiulas |first5=Leandros |last6=Christakis |first6=Nicholas A. |date=November 2018 |title=Cyclic motifs in the Sardex monetary network |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-018-0450-0 |journal=Nature Human Behaviour |language=en |volume=2 |issue=11 |pages=822–829 |doi=10.1038/s41562-018-0450-0 |pmid=31558815 |s2cid=256713022 |issn=2397-3374|url-access=subscription }}

=Disadvantages=

According to professor Nikolaus Läufer's theory, the use of local currencies such as Freigeld can only increase economic activity temporarily. Lengthy use of a local currency will ultimately result in a decline in economic activity and lead to a destabilization of the economy. This is due to the increased circulation velocity of the money as the amount in circulation decreases (as currencies as Freigeld reduce in value rapidly).{{cite web|last=Läufer|first=Nikolaus|title=Natural Economic Order Theories or Freiwirtschaftslehre (Silvio Gesell)|url=http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/wiwi/laufer/main.html#FREI|publisher=University of Konstanz|access-date=3 April 2014|date=31 December 2006|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120232834/http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/wiwi/laufer/main.html#FREI|archive-date=20 November 2012|url-status=dead}}{{ clarify | date = June 2015 | reason = More specific link required}}

Tax

There are some complementary currencies that are regional or global, such as the Community Exchange System, WIR and Friendly Favors, Tibex in the Lazio region in Italy or the proposed global currency terra.{{r|rietaer}}

A community currency is a type of complementary currency that has the explicit aim to support and build more equal, connected and sustainable societies. A community currency is designed to be used by a specific group.{{r|CCIA}}

List of complementary currencies

class="wikitable sortable"
scope="col"| Name

!scope="col"| Type

!scope="col"| Country

!scope="col"| Region

!scope="col"| Active

scope="row"| Brixton pound

| Local currency

| United Kingdom

| Europe

|2009–present

scope="row"| Bristol pound

| Local currency

| United Kingdom

| Europe

|2009–2021

scope="row"| BerkShares

| Local currency

| United States

| North America

| 2006–present

scope="row" |Calgary dollar

| Local currency

| Canada

| North America

| 1995–present

scope="row" | Chiemgauer

|Local currency

|Germany

|Europe

|2003–present

scope="row" | Detroit Community Scrip

| Local currency

| United States

| North America

| 2009–present

scope="row" | Eco-Pesa

| Local currency

| Kenya

| Africa

| 2010–2011

scope="row" | Eusko

| Local currency

|Basque Country, France

| Europe

| 2013–present

scope="row" | Exeter pound

| Local currency

| United Kingdom

| Europe

| 2015–2018

scope="row" |Eko

| Local currency

| Findhorn Ecovillage, Moray, Scotland (U.K.)

| Europe

| 2002–present

scope="row" |Fureai kippu

| Sectoral currency

| Japan

| Asia

| 1995

scope="row" | Ithaca Hours

| Local currency

| United States

| North America

| 1991–present

scope="row" | Kelantanese dinar

| Regional currency

| Malaysia

| Asia

| 2006–present

scope="row" | Lewes pound

| Local currency

| United Kingdom

| Europe

| 2008–present

scope="row" |Ora

| Regional currency

|Orania, South Africa

| Africa

| 2014–present

scope="row" |Bon Towarowy PeKaO{{dubious|date=March 2021}}

| Regional currency

| Poland

| Europe

|1960–1989

scope="row" |Sarafu-Credit{{dubious|date=March 2021}}

| Local currency

| Kenya

| Africa

|

scope="row" |Spesmilo

| rowspan="2" | Community currency

| rowspan="2" | Esperantujo (mostly Great Britain and Switzerland)

| Mostly Europe

| 1907- First World War

scope="row" |Stelo

| Europe

| 1945-1993

scope="row" | Stroud pound

| Local currency

| United Kingdom

| Europe

| 2009–present

scope="row" | Toronto dollar

| Local currency

| Canada

| North America

| 1995–2013

scope="row" |Tumin

| Local currency

| El Espinal, Veracruz, Mexico

| North America

| 2010–present

Other non-regional complementary currencies include:

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See also

{{Portal|Money|Numismatics}}

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References

{{Reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite journal | title=Classifying "CCs": Community, complementary and local currencies' types and generations | first=Jérôme | last=Blanc | journal=International Journal of Community Currency Research | volume=15 | year=2011 | pages=4–10 | url=https://ijccr.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ijccr-2011-special-issue-02-blanc.pdf }}

{{Cite web |url=http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003575.html |title=Faludi, Jeremy "Complementary Currency: For Bootstrapping, But Not For Everything", Worldchanging, 4 October 2005. |access-date=2 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090313110506/http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/003575.html |archive-date=13 March 2009 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite journal|last=DeMeulenaere|first=S.|title=2006 Annual Report of the Worldwide Database of Complementary Currency Systems|journal=International Journal of Community Currency Research|year=2007|volume=11|pages=23–35|issn=1325-9547|doi=10.15133/j.ijccr.2007.003|url=https://ijccr.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/ijccr-vol-11-2007-2-demeulenaere.pdf}}

{{cite journal|last1=Lietaer|first1=Bernard |last2=Ulanowicz |first2=Robert |last3=Goerner |first3=Sally|year=2009|title=Options for Managing a Systemic Bank Crisis|journal=S.A.P.I.EN.S |volume=2|issue=1|url=http://sapiens.revues.org/747}}

{{cite web|last1=Lietaer|first1=Bernard|last2=Hallsmith|first2=Gwendolyn|title=Community Currency Guide|url=http://cemusstudent.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Community-Currency-Guide.pdf|publisher=Global Community Initiatives|access-date=18 June 2015|date=2006}}

[https://web.archive.org/web/20090612090715/http://www.elecan.net/docs/moned/ccto.pdf Costanza, Robert et al., "Complementary Currencies as a Method to Improve Local Sustainable Economic Welfare", University of Vermont, Draft, 12 December 2003.]

{{cite web|title=People Powered Money: designing, developing and delivering community currencies|url=http://www.neweconomics.org/page/-/publications/ppm__digital.pdf|publisher=Community Currencies in Action|access-date=17 June 2015}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{cite web|last1=Fare|first1=Marie| last2=Ahmed|first2=Pepita Ould| title=The complementary currency systems: a tricky issue for economists |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ird-01081350/document|publisher=hal.archives-ouvertes.fr |year=2014 |access-date=18 June 2015}}

[https://web.archive.org/web/20120217004625/http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200214/000020021402A0521947.php B. Rietaer, "Global Complementally Currency: Making Money Sustainable", Environmental Research Quarterly, Vol. 125, pp. 53–59, 2002.]

{{cite web|title=Making Money for Business: Currencies, Profit, and Long-Term Thinking|url=http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/992|publisher=thesolutionsjournal.com|access-date=20 March 2014|archive-date=8 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108154338/http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/992|url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|title=Sardex homepage|url=http://www.sardex.net/|publisher=sardex.net|access-date=20 March 2014}}

{{cite web|title=Fizetőeszköz lesz a Rábaközi Tallér|url=http://www.kisalfold.hu/rabakozi_hirek/fizetoeszkoz_lesz_a_rabakozi_taller/2175652/|publisher=kisalfold.hu|access-date=28 August 2010|archive-date=29 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100829151531/http://www.kisalfold.hu/rabakozi_hirek/fizetoeszkoz_lesz_a_rabakozi_taller/2175652/|url-status=dead}}

{{cite web|title=The dollar alternatives - Ven|url=https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/fortune/1007/gallery.Alternate_Currency.fortune/4.html|work=cnn.com|publisher=Cable News Network|access-date=3 April 2014}}

}}

Further reading

  • Glover, Paul. Hometown Money: how to enrich your community with local currency. Greenplanners, 2013.
  • Lietaer, Bernard. The Future of Money. Random House, 2001.
  • Raddon, M. Community and money: men and women making change. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 2003.
  • Suhr, Dieter (1990). [http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/suhr/nngengl.html The Neutral Money Network (NeuMoNe): A Critical Analysis of Traditional Money and the Financial Innovation "Neutral Money"]

External links

{{External links|date=November 2019}}

  • [http://ccmag.net/ Community Currency Magazine]
  • [http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/ijccr/ International Journal of Community Currency Research]
  • [http://www.complementarycurrency.org/ccDatabase/les_public.html Online Database of Complementary Currencies Worldwide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116075240/http://www.complementarycurrency.org/ccDatabase/les_public.html |date=2013-01-16 }}
  • [http://www.socialtrade.org Social Trade Organisation]
  • [http://secure-exchange-protocols.org/ Secure eXchange Protocols] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813002903/https://secure-exchange-protocols.org/ |date=2020-08-13 }}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20140203093018/http://www.tradenow.gr/HowItWorks.aspx?lang=en Trade Point: Internal currency of Barter platform]
  • [http://www.minutesbank.com Minutes Bank]

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Category:Local currencies

Category:Monetary reform

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