February 6, 2011
Time Banking refers to an economic system that uses units of time as currency. A Time Bank, also known as a Service Exchange, is a community which practices time banking. The unit of currency, always valued at an hour’s worth of any person’s labor, used by these groups has various names, but is generally known as a Time Dollar in the U.S. and a Time Credit in the U.K. Time Banking is primarily used to provide incentives and rewards for work such as mentoring children, caring for the elderly, being neighborly—work usually done on a volunteer basis—which a pure market system devalues.
Essentially, the ‘time’ one spends providing these types of community services earns ‘time’ that one can spend to receive services. Time Banking had its intellectual genesis in the U.S. in the early 1980s. Today, 26 countries have active Time Banks. There are 108 Time Banks active in the U.K. and 53 officially recognized Time Banks in the U.S.
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February 6, 2011
Terra (The Trade Reference Currency, TRC) is the name of a theorized ‘world currency.’ The concept is currently proposed by Belgian economist Bernard A. Lietaer and is designed to resist currency inflation. The currency is meant to be based on a basket of the 9-12 most important commodities (according to their importance in world wide trade). For example: 100 Terra = 1 barrel of oil + 10 bushels of wheat + 20 kg of copper, etc. The basic principle emerged from early concepts presented in an article in the French newspaper ‘Le Fédériste’ in 1933.
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February 6, 2011
The Liberty Dollar (ALD) was a private currency produced in the United States from 1998 – 2009. The currency was available in coins, gold and silver certificates, and as an electronic currency (eLD). ALD certificates are warehouse receipts for real gold and silver formerly owned by ALD certificate holders. The metal was warehoused at Sunshine Minting in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho prior to a November 2007 raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Secret Service.
Until July 2009, the Liberty Dollar was distributed by Liberty Services (formerly known as NORFED), based in Evansville, Indiana. It was created by Bernard von NotHaus, the co-founder of the Royal Hawaiian Mint Company. In May 2009, von NotHaus and others were charged with federal crimes in connection with the Liberty Dollar and, on July 31, 2009, von NotHaus announced that he had closed the Liberty Dollar operation, pending resolution of the criminal charges.
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