Town launches its own currency to encourage residents to shop locally

[phantom power]

A historic county town was today launching its own currency in a bid to encourage residents to shop locally.

More than 70 local traders in Lewes, East Sussex, have agreed to accept the Lewes Pound as a complementary currency to pound sterling.

Up to 10,000 one Lewes Pound notes have been designed and will be unveiled at the launch at Lewes Town Hall from 7.30pm.

Organisers say the initiative would help increase a sense of pride in the community, help cut CO2 emissions and boost economic resilience amid the economic downturn.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23552704-details/Town+launches+its+own+currency+to+encourage+residents+to+shop+locally/article.do

[Bob Dobbs]

1. Anarchism lives.

Regional economies ARE the future.

The dollar is dead, start your own local currency now.

[TechBear_Seattle]

2. Local currencies are a growing movement

See Wikipedia articles for

• Local currency


• List of community currencies in US


• Totnes pound
, another local currency in the UK.

[phantom power]

3. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language...

that they may not understand one another's speech.

Genesis 11 : 7

[bananas]

4. It started with Ithaca Hours

"Ithaca Hours is a local currency in Ithaca, New York. It is credited as the first modern local currency and has inspired similar systems throughout the world."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ithaca_Hours

[phantom power]

5. Those damned Moosewood-eating hippie freaks from Cornell...

:evilgrin: