The Onion River Exchange in Montpelier seems serves an interesting niche somewhere between an economics experiment, and hybrid barter-volunteering. Simply from viewing the services offered versus requested there is a great imbalance that mirrors a cash based world -- except instead of someone being able to price their services higher, their services go to those they prefer. If such a system was to fully engulf an area -- those with superior social skills would likely be the "richest" and most preferred individuals -- while those who are less socially versed, or invest less in the social construct of the organization suffer.
In practice this means that time banks are best served by offerings of commodities such as cooking, manual labor, and other skills one can offer easily to the masses without much formal training. The plumber, musician, photographer, painter, car repair man, or anyone else who charges a disproportionate cash rate is therefor sought after for the value of their skill, but due to not investing in the social system around the time bank, is not able to find someone to simply walk their dog on thursdays. The idea would be strongly coupled to US currency, as such a system would ultimately be measured against it -- as all alternative currencies tend to be (world of warcraft gold, for example, has a cash value). The system would be IP based only, and use inexpensive processing terminals (surely such a beast could be crafted for <$35 in parts). The ideal market would be progressive businesses such as Montpelier's numerous coffee shops, book stores, and family businesses. I don't expect Shaws to support such a scheme -- but surely Rhapsody, Langdon St Cafe and the Montpelier cooking store all have internet access already. Regardless -- I was more curious of if it is possible; and has it been done. I have no idea why other alternative currencies fail -- but I do know I hate carrying cash -- and I feel horrible when I whip out an American Express, the merchant's machine doesnt scan the card, they type the number in manually, and get charged who knows what rate... while I get discount flights and Dell coupons. If local businesses offered a 1% discount to "Montpelier Card" users -- and the system charged them 1% transaction fee -- it seems like it could be both self supporting and localvore creating. I would gladly don my credit cards for such a beast. Stan On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 10:31 PM, Rene Churchill <[email protected]> wrote: > Currently there's Onion River Exchange in Montpelier, which is a > time bank instead of a local currency. Members donate their time > to other members in return for services in return. A bit of a > socialist slant in that an hour of garden weeding is valued the > same as an hour of computer consulting, but you've got to define > some medium of exchange to get the ball rolling. > > Money is just a medium of exchange backed by the government. It > eases the difficulties of the barter system by removing the > requirement that both parties have something that the other > desires. i.e. you want my car but I don't want your motorcycle, > but I'll take your cash which I can use to buy that boat I want. > > Money also solves problems of sliding scales. If the going > exchange rate is three cows for two horses, how do you buy > only one horse without being overcharged (paying two cows) > or getting into a bloody mess (half a cow). > > There is also the problem of liquidity. If I amass a pile > of Brinkerhoff Bucks, how do I know I can actually use them > to get something in the future? It takes a while to build > a stable reputation so that folks will actually hold onto > a local currency. > > If my aging memory is working right, there was a time in the > 1840's where the US government allowed businesses to print > their own currency. Generally it was just used as a novelty > for in-store specials because nobody else would honor that > currency, but a couple of stores in San Francisco did Ok > at it for a decade or so. > > Anyhow, while many merchants would love to reduce or eliminate > their credit card processing fees, the infrastructure required > is considerable. Someone needs to buy the credit card machines > before they can be programmed and then leased out to the merchants. > If it's a separate system, then does the merchant need a second > phone line to work the local system on top of their existing CC > system? Integration with cash registers and existing card swiping > software is another problem. The current credit/debit card system > has a huge amount of inertia behind it. Cash flow is another > concern, how quickly is the merchant paid after they submit a > receipt? CC's often pay in 2 business days, barring returns > and merchants count on getting the funds that quickly so they > can pay their own bills. > > Anyhow, just my $0.02 on the subject. > > Rene > > > > > > Stanley Brinkerhoff wrote: > >> VAGUIANS, >> >> There is an idea of a 'local' currency. Burlington has tried it. >> Montpelier has tried it. >> >> I am sure its been done many times -- and it seems to fail (as far as I >> have causally noticed). Has anyone developed; or has any area implemented; >> a local "debit card" system for a town/geographical area? Something simple >> where individuals could put cash onto cards (online, or even at a local >> business) and spend locally with little to no processing fees? Right now a >> local vendor subsodizes the creditcard at 1-5% -- such a system could >> charge an equal overhead while guaranteeing local businesses they are >> "paying" for local business, rather than sending 1-5% to a creditcard >> processor. Such a system could even be piggybacked to process a vendors >> normal creditcard transactions such that they could process local cards, and >> as a failback, it would push the transaction out to their merchant. >> >> Enlighten me to where this has happened -- or why it wouldn't work. >> >> Stan >> > > -- > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= > René Churchill [email protected] > Geek Two 802-244-7880 x527 > Your Source for Local Information http://www.wherezit.com >
