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June 19, 2007
Quaint, Quixotic, or Quazy
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| I read a letter-to-the-editor today expressing angst
over the "planners" in Paradise wanting a Wal-Mart to move into that town.
I kind of doubt that planners want that, but who knows. Maybe they do want
additional sales tax income. More than likely they have no control over
who owns the property, and probably little control over if it's developed,
only over how it's developed. It's not very American to prevent land exchanges between private parties. In fact it's quite the opposite, we have laws saying you can't be discriminatory when selling your property. I think a lot of people would like to support local business over retail giants. But how to do it? A small town in Massachusetts has developed it's own currency (actually a paper "scrip"). The currency is accepted by local small businesses that can handle the irregular payment method. Large box stores and chains can only work in dollars, so if you have local currency you can't spend it there. The currency, known as the Berkshare has a standard conversion rate of $0.90/US dollar (9 Berkshares = 10 dollars). That means if you're converting from dollars and spending Berkshares you get 10% more spending power. Unfortunately , somebody down the road would take the 10% hit, probably the merchant or bank. The bank that manages this scrip is considering setting up Berkshare based checking and credit card systems as well. On a side note, states cannot print their own money but local groups can print paper "scrips". As long as the scrip does not look like the dollar, and as long as no coinage is used, this kind of economic exchange is legal. The town that started this new payment method sounds a little "new-age kooky". It sounds like a rural version of Berkeley. I think Chico's super-majority liberal council is too moderate to buy into this concept, but who knows. Regardless, it's a fun idea to play with. What would we name our own currency? Who would be on the bills? It's unfortunate that you can't use coins, because the "Bear Buck" would be an easy transition for some of us. I think I still have some in my change jar. I'm sure some people would want to name it after Annie Bidwell, but I'd be more for naming it after the forgotten general. "Johnbacks" or "General Currency" would work for me. As far as the different designs for the various denominations, I think we should just lift the colors and images from Sierra Nevada brewery's beer selection. The higher the alcohol content the higher the bill value. That would put Bigfoot Ale at the top. Or we could use images of famous Chicoans, like the guy in the yellow tank top that dances when Spark 'N Cinder plays. Or perhaps the guy who used to paint political slogans on his bus and park it downtown. I would love to see Marge the "now retired" parking meter enforcement officer on a bill. Tim Bousquet and DNA would need to be on one as well. We could put Tom Gasgoyne on one, but I'm not sure he'd be comfortable getting that close to money. Maybe we should have our own currency, it might increase tourism, and since I brought the topic to local attention I'll get on a bill as well. And one last thought, with our own currency we could just print enough money to balance our budget. That works doesn't it? |
Posted by Lon at June 19, 2007 07:12 AM