CNN has the story of a local community printing its own currency that tracks to the dollar at a rate of 1 BerkShare (the local currency) to $.90. Yes, this is legal.
Since large national chains aren’t entering into agreements to accept local bills, only the small, locally owned shops are accepting them. And based on the rate at which they track to dollars, customers receive a 10% discount for using the local currency.
For all of you people who complain about the big box stores and that the gov’ment should do something about them, apparently some LOCAL governments have, and it works well.
The market will always find a way.
The Berkshares are not run by local government, it’s a not-for-profit private corp. The notes are issued by the private corp and the local gov has nothing to do with them. It’s very cool stuff as you say, anyone can do it in any area.
Mark
MainStreetCash.org