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Adventures in mutual credit

Time to get serious

published by matslats on Sun, 06/16/2013 - 11:01

Most of my readers will probably have heard of the travails of the Bangla Pesa project in Kenya, which is facing a court case for forgery and is now seeking to raise EUR 47,000 to defend itself in court and, if successful, to replicate the model elsewhere.

Ego

published by matslats on Sat, 05/11/2013 - 18:44

I want to save the world.
To see the flag of peace unfurled!
I hurt too when via my screens
Come gangs and drugs and pregnant teens,
Black potbelly-babies, bombs and shit;
Besuited leaders, don't get it,
They huff and puff and blow hot air;
When real change is just to share!
And when they catch that subtle light,
They will know that I am right!
They'll give me thanks one day
For showing them the only way.
One day I'll make them effing see
What's best for them is more of me.

Community Currencies Tutorial for European Commission

published by matslats on Thu, 04/25/2013 - 08:34
write a short engaging/actionable text (approx. 2 pages long) as a sort of tutorial/step-by-step instruction on starting a complementary currency system for EC Responding Together programme

If a community currency was simply a printed note or an accounting system, then you could make a 1 2 3 recipe for starting one in your community, like boiling an egg. However this approach is unlikely to succeed, because a currency is more than just tokens and symbols.

Captured! Why money and payment must be open.

published by matslats on Mon, 04/22/2013 - 17:19

Since the dot com boom, online services have been delivered 'free' by venture capitalised projects to acclimatise and capture a user base before the real, revenue-generating business model kicks in. For services which depend for their value on the number of users it is especially important to arrive early in the marketplace with an attractive product.

Volksgeld, Nazism and political bridge-burning

published by matslats on Tue, 03/19/2013 - 18:01

In response to: http://leconomistamascherato.blogspot.com/2013/03/germany-money-to-peopl...

Dear Mr Huber,

The decision of your committee seems very short-sighted to me as a non-German. The Nazis did many depraved things but we would do well to learn from their monetary policy if we wanted to execute say, a green new deal or reduce our subservience to private banking interests. Of course communicating with the electorate requires care with language, but the cause of monetary reform will get nowhere without also educating the electorate.

Design for Dane County Time Bank, USA

published by matslats on Fri, 03/08/2013 - 20:30

Dane County Time Bank has been run by Stephanie Rearick for several years and is now up to 2500 members. Madison Hours has been less successful, but Stephanie believes that together they offer a valuable combination. Stephanie plans to bring them together into a dual currency marketplace where businesses, nonprofits and ordinary folk can exchange without money - the new system will be greater than the sum of its parts.

My precious

published by matslats on Wed, 01/16/2013 - 00:00

I love money
It makes me feel safe.
I like to keep it, to own it.
I also like buying things
I hate it when I'm in debt and I have to pay interest. Its not fair!
But when I have enough money, I can live from interest.
Then I'll be sitting pretty.
Then I won't have to work.
Then I can grow old and die with dignity.
I'd be destitute without money.
I love money.

My first currency design

published by matslats on Tue, 01/15/2013 - 23:36

For the first time I have helped to design a currency! With LETS and Time banks, the currency model is pretty straight-forward mutual credit with minimum and maximum account limits. Then more often than not there is an issuing account which gradually runs out of control and they are running a fiat system more than a mutual credit.

Workshop game 'Trading floor'

published by matslats on Sun, 11/25/2012 - 14:45
This game is designed to show participants in workshops
  1. how trade is affected by the availability of money
  2. how outside control of the money supply may be counter productive to a local economy
  3. how money is separate from real value
  4. how using debt as money can obstruct the economy
Creative Commons License

Rolling Jubilee - will it work?

published by matslats on Sat, 11/10/2012 - 11:47

The Rolling Jubilee campaign is raising money to buy up cheap debt and forgive it.

I wrote to them asking
1) Who will sell you debt for pennies on the dollar?
2) Who's debt will you buy?
3) Don't you think the price will go up if the campaign gets traction?
4) is there a way that we can buy the debt of people we care about?
5) By purchasing the debt, you legitimise it, and the whole system that created it.

Why not a campaign of solidarity and support for debtors and people who default?

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