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It is clear that it will be very difficult to get the Government to create a Government-issued currency. There will be opposition, particularly from the special interests. I have been thinking, however, about a potential path to reform. Though the national Government may not issue its own currency, maybe a council would.
First of all, i do not think that councils have the authority to collect taxes (that could of course change), but they do charge people, particularly businesses, for services like waste, collection, water etc. I am sure that, particularly in a recession, businesses would be very open to any ideas on lessening this burden.
I was reminded of the island of Guernsey. The Island was desperately in need of infrastructural development, but it was bereft of money. The interest payments alone accounted for most of their tax revenue. They found that they could not bleed any more taxes out of the people and they could not afford to borrow any more money.
The Government, in their brilliance, decided to issue their own money debt-free and spent it on the needed infrastructural development. To this day, the Guernsey Government continues to issue its own currency alongside bank of England notes.
http://www.aberhartfoundation.ca/PDF...he%20Banks.pdf
Guernsey has a population of about 70,000, smaller than most Council areas in Ireland. If they can do it, why can't our councils do it? Guernsey has the 9th highest GDP per Capita in the world and very low taxes.
A Council could do this:
1. First of all, get the idea out there in the locality. Get businesses to sign up and, most importantly, get people talking about their own new local currency.
2. The Local Council could get specially made Credit Cards. These cards could be given (or sold at a nominal price) to those who have signed up for the scheme, primarily council employees. Local businesses would be signed up to accept payment in these 'vouchers'. The cards should be made so as they work with normal credit card readers.
3. 100 'points' would be credited to each card. The people could then go to the participating shops and spent their points. One point would be equivalent to one Euro.
4. At the end of, say, a month, the businesses could use the points that they had accumulated to pay council charges. One point = One Euro.
5. Hopefully, more businesses and council employees would be signed up to the scheme. More money would be credited to the cardholders, say 200, and the process would start again.
6. Cards would then be given to the business owners and their employees. They would decide to spent some of their points, rather than pay their council charges with them. The voucher points would begin to circulate in the economy. The Council could continue increasing the quantity of points in circulation by crediting peoples' cards by a certain amount.
7. Cards could be given to the poorest members of the community and allow them to buy purchase what they need. Farmers markets and local shops could get involved, giving them a new leash of life.
8. All of this would be done electronically and would be inexpensive to run. The points received by the council in payment for charges could be spent by the council on wages and services, so the system would not have to be subsidised with national currency.
9. In the long-term, if Councils could take in taxes, the demand for these voucher points would increase and they could circulate in greater quantities. They would, in all but name, become local legal tender. Kings would make their particular coinage into legal tender by accepting it as payment for taxes.
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Originally Posted by Kensington
