Worgl Shillings

Famously successfull, but curtailed, experiment with Monetary Reform, i.e. the use of local depreciating currencies, in an Austrian town in the twenties.

The case is discussed in depth here at http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=904

Context

"Worgl Schillings

In the early 1930s the small town of Worgl in the Austrian Tyrol, suffering like every other town in Europe and America from the Great Depression, took the unlikely step of issuing its own currency.

Its burgomaster, Michael Unterguggenberger, faced an empty treasury, because the unemployed citizens could not pay their taxes; roads and bridges needed repair and parks needed maintenance, for which the town could not pay; and idle men and women earned no wages.

He recognised that all three problems could be solved if he could find the connecting link.

That link was money. The three problems coexisted because no one had any of it, and his simple solution was to create money locally.

He issued numbered 'labour certificates' to the value of 32,000 schillings, in denominations of 1, 5 and 10 schillings, respectively. These became valid only after being stamped at the town hall, and depreciated monthly by 1 per cent of their nominal value.

It was possible for the holders to 'revalue' them by the purchase, before the end of each month, of stamps from the town hall, in the process creating a relief fund." (http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=904)

More Information

The full article is really worth reading, see at http://www.globalideasbank.org/site/bank/idea.php?ideaId=904