Anybody can write an IOU.

In the distant past, that’s more or less how local trade worked - the big landowner wrote (in effect) a post-dated cheque that would be passed from one person to the next in payment for goods and services, till eventually somebody cashed it, and the landowner wrote another.

Already today, many people are using that kind of note as a cashless currency in barter networks - not just groups of hippies (I mean no disrespect) in Local Exchange Trading Schemes but also small and medium sized businesses in commercial networks like Bartercard, which serves 75,000 small businesses in several countries.

That’s because small and medium sized businesses that provide vast amount of employment are typically paid slowly but expected to pay suppliers and tax bills quickly. Consequently they are always short of the working capital that provides life to small businesses. Banks are not generally interested in providing that.

A solution is to use barter, or trade within a network that accepts IOUs, usually denominated as a form of currency.

Thus, a hairdresser might pay “barter pounds” to an accountant, and earn them back by giving haircuts to other members of the network (again, for barter pounds). People in these networks say they experience a great increase in new business - helping them thrive at a time when others complain that trade is falling off.

It seems to me that the Church of England, hoping to move on from the current awkwardness at St Pauls, could become a useful pillar of support to a similar network run by, say, the Cooperative movement. There are many different co-ops around the country, who could create a lot of trade with each other while saving hard cash.

Why involve the church? Because that could widen the awareness of the network very quickly, and make it available to people who are not (yet) working for co-ops. It needn’t be exclusively the CofE that does this, of course.

(It’s worth remembering that Fair Trade came out of the faith movement and was vigorously supported by co-operatives.)

It’s just a thought, but I would like very much to know what you think.

12:10 pm  •  2 November 2011  •  1 note

Andrew Sell, who recently started Hipcycle.com, said his ambition is for it to become “the Amazon of upcycled products.”

By offering goods that, Mr. Sell said, “compete with traditional mainstream products in both price and aesthetics,” he hopes to appeal to consumers who would prefer not to sacrifice design or value to be environmentally conscious.

(Source: unconsumption)

11:48 am  •  2 November 2011  •  30 notes

At present in Britain less than 5% of new money is issued and put into circulation by the government and the Bank of England as cash (coins and banknotes). The remaining 95% is created by the commercial banks and put into circulation as non-cash money in our current accounts. As J.K. Galbraith has commented, “The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled. Where something so important is involved, a deeper mystery seems only decent.” The banks simply print the money out of thin air into the current accounts of their customers - as interest-bearing, profit-making loans. Interest on these loans is estimated to give the UK banks supernormal, special profits of £21bn a year. The annual loss of public revenue from allowing the banks to create non-cash money in that way is greater - about £45bn. Total banking profits from this source in the USA, UK, Eurozone countries and Japan are about $140bn a year. With a free lunch on that scale, no wonder some of the cats get fat!

(Source: jamesrobertson.com)

6:39 pm  •  1 November 2011

Another chance to take back control… by making real books, out of paper, to your own design.

Will also demonstrate a variety of exciting “secret” book designs. (The secret is hidden pages.)

Please join us at The Idler Academy at 6.30pm on Wed 16 November.

1:20 pm  •  1 November 2011

55 Watts of light from a water-filled plastic bottle.

PS. I found this on Permaculture.

11:43 am  •  1 November 2011  •  1 note