British residents bring back bartering
The global recession has led many countries to come up with new ways of handling their finances, but residents of one European country have gone back in time for their inspiration.
People in a number of cities in Britain are swapping goods without using any money at all.
Other towns have begun printing their own currency. Residents of one such community in East Sussex use their own Pounds in local shops. These "Lewes Pounds" feature Thomas Paine, a one-time resident of Lewes, and the motto, "We have it in our power to build the world anew."
The Lewes Pound website explains the new currency phenomenon: Such currencies are often created by local merchants, government and citizens during times of great economic change, inflation or unemployment; recent examples exist in Argentina and Japan. The town of Berkshire, Massachusetts, has issued over $1.5 million Berkshares into circulation since it started a couple of years ago and is accepted by 300 shops and being adopted by nearby towns.
Click image to enlarge. [They really are lovely.]
The Lewes Pound is a creative yet practical way for local people to make money work for Lewes. Money spent locally circulates within, and benefits the local merchants whereas money spent in national chains doesn’t. The Lewes Pound encourages demand for local goods and services. In turn this builds resilience to the rising costs of energy, transport and food.
Think about it -- when you shop at WalMart, where does that money go? Certainly not to your neighbor who could in turn use that money to buy something from you or provide you with employment. Think those national chains are "too big to fail"? I don't. Without WalMart where would you shop?
Shopping where you live may just be the global solution to our current financial mess. It's a win-win proposition -- one that both boosts the local economy while reducing the impact of the worldwide recession -- and one we should all adopt.
Think globally. Shop locally.
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