Struggling towns printing their own cash

[jeff of pa]

In an echo of the Great Depression, local currencies with their own special flavors are popping up all over in attempts to give commerce and communities a lift.

Last year, two Detroit tavern owners were sitting at the bar, sampling their beverages and bemoaning the local economy -- no one in the city had cash, and when they did, they spent it in the suburbs. Then the pair hit on a solution: Print their own money.

It is, after all, perfectly legal for anyone to issue currency, as long as it doesn't look too much like a U.S. dollar. Thus was born the Detroit cheer, a local scrip accepted by a handful of city businesses, including a pizzeria, an electrician and a doggy day care center.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...struggling-towns-printing-their-own-cash.aspx

 

[savant365]

Sounds similar to what they do here where I live. The chamber of commerce gives out what they call "chamber bucks" they look like checks and you can use them at any business that is a member of the chamber of commerce. Basically they are just gift certificates that you can only use here in town. People give them out as bonuses and they get used in a lot of local raffles and give aways. They idea is to get people to shop locally instead of driving St. Joe or Kansas City.

Charlie