Complementary Currencies

Definition

From the Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_currency

"Complementary currencies describe a wide group of currencies or scrips designed to be used in combination with standard currencies or other complementary currencies. They can be valued and exchanged in relationship to national currencies but also function as media of exchange on their own. Complementary currencies lie outside the nationally defined legal realm of Legal tender and are not used as such. Rate of exchange, scope of circulation and use in combination with other currencies differs greatly between complementary currency systems, as is the case with national currency systems." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_currency)

Typology

See also the entries on Targeted Currencies, Open Money

Local vs. Time-Based

"Complementary currency, a form of exchange that aims to "complement" standard monetary currencies, comes in many forms. So-called local currency systems, like the one that contributed to the pesticide ban in Calgary's parks , rely on a homegrown form of paper money that is accepted only in a small geographical area and is not backed by the national government . The intention of local currency, explains Gerald Wheatley, a founder of the Calgary Dollars project, is to promote a sense of community and to stimulate the local economy by ensuring that cash stays in the region . O ne of the greatest benefits of the program, he says, is that it provides "one more resource, one more social networking support for progressive projects ."

Time-based currency, in contrast, is designed to strengthen communities by valuing "the universal characteristics of human beings," based on the understanding that every individual has something to offer, according to Edgar Cahn, founder and CEO of Timebanks USA. Under this system, every member 's time is valued equally, allowing for what is effectively a more structured form of barter. When a person performs an hour of service for a neighbor, he or she earns an hour of service from anyone else in the system. In this way, the elderly Madison woman was able to spend an hour cooking for one member of the local time bank and was repaid with an hour-long crochet lesson from a local 15-year-old boy. Alternatively, the Chicago school children were required to give 100 hours each of tutoring services to earn a refurbished computer. These types of programs convert community members who are conventionally recipients of support into active participants in tackling local problems. (http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005224.html)

See the related entries on Time-based Currencies and Local Currencies

More Information

See the entries on Alternative Currencies and Targeted Currencies

Open Money