What is a Local Currency?
A local currency is a method of trading goods and services meant to supplement other means of trade while improving the community wealth. Local currencies circulate in a defined region. Money does not leave the area because trade is restricted by the currency boundaries.
Where have Local Currencies Succeeded?
In Ithaca, NY since 1991. President Stephen Burke describes, “An Ithaca HOUR will generate 30 times more economic activity than [a dollar] will,” This means more money for their community. Some communities even have wages paid in the local currency because the local money is worth more in the community than Federal dollars.
Is a Local Currency Legal?
Yes. Law professor Lewis Solomon states in his book, Rethinking Our Centralized Monetary System, that there is no legal prohibition to creating a local currency system in the United States. The IRS, FBI, US Secret Service, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department have all declared the printing and use of local currencies to be legal.
