The Special Logic of Gift Economies. The gift is inherently unquantifiable: to count its worth too closely is to destroy its status as a gift.
This might explain why it will never be possible to scale a gift economy beyond small social networks, even with the help of reputation measurement technology. Goods and services haven’t always flowed through market exchanges, and neither do they entirely today. Debt: The first five thousand years - David Graeber. Throughout its 5000 year history, debt has always involved institutions – whether Mesopotamian sacred kingship, Mosaic jubilees, Sharia or Canon Law – that place controls on debt's potentially catastrophic social consequences.
It is only in the current era, writes anthropologist David Graeber, that we have begun to see the creation of the first effective planetary administrative system largely in order to protect the interests of creditors. What follows is a fragment of a much larger project of research on debt and debt money in human history. The first and overwhelming conclusion of this project is that in studying economic history, we tend to systematically ignore the role of violence, the absolutely central role of war and slavery in creating and shaping the basic institutions of what we now call "the economy". What's more, origins matter. Let me start with the institution of slavery, whose role, I think, is key. What should Peer-to-Peer Money be? Thinking about debt outside the twin intellectual straitjackets of state and market opens up exciting possibilities.
For instance, we can ask: in a society in which that foundation of violence had finally been yanked away, what exactly would free men and women owe each other? #PunkMoney: How to Print Money on Twitter. NB: For a more up to date post on #PunkMoney, go here.
In the Middle Ages, producers created their own money as a promise to deliver goods and services in the future, and spent it with people who trusted them. The promisee, who became the bearer of a new credit note, could transfer it to a third party as payment, by signing it on the back. If a note ever came back to the issuer, it would be redeemed for whatever it was a promise for. Personal currencies were effective forms of trust-based local money when bullion was in short supply. GiftPunk: A Twitter Tool for Giftcasting. Recently I’ve been thinking about communities, and how to build them.
Communities are in some sense defined by the flow of gifts, rather than market-based transactions. Perhaps the kinds of behaviour encouraged by the market is one of the reasons communities have been in decline in recent history. As one person put it to me recently, “community building is a truly 21st century problem.” If gifts define community, it might be because they encourage feelings of generosity and gratitude, and hence bonds of kinship. It may also have something to do with the fact that the informal gift economy presupposes an ongoing relationship.
Welcome to the Metacurrency Project. "Blessed is he who has found his work. Let him ask no other blessing" - Thomas Carlisle. Edgar Kampers's answer to Alternative Currencies: How do you start a local alternative or complementary currency system. Webisteme. This is my second post on defining a trust metric for Ripple, or in fact any peer-to-peer credit network which relies solely on trust.
The_Future_of_Money-Bernard_Lietaer.pdf (application/pdf Object) The Future of Money: It’s Flexible, Frictionless and (Almost) Free. Cash in the clouds—neither paper nor plastic.Illustration: Aegir Hallmundur; Benjamin Franklin: Corbis A simple typo gave Michael Ivey the idea for his company.
One day in the fall of 2008, Ivey’s wife, using her pink RAZR phone, sent him a note via Twitter. But instead of typing the letter d at the beginning of the tweet — which would have sent the note as a direct message, a private note just for Ivey — she hit p. Eka-People.doc. Description of the system of mutual relations "Eka-People" Key ideas of the system : humanity and balance.
Financial relations must become humane, and human relations - balanced.
Transcript. Ira Glass This American Life.
I'm Ira Glass. Each week on our show of course, we choose a theme, bring you different kinds of stories on that theme. Today's show, "The Invention of Money. " We have stories today about the fictional quality of money. We've arrived at Act 2 of our show. When the United States was on a real gold standard, it was clear what money was and how much money there was.
If you have any cash in your pocket right now, pull it out, you see the name right at the top of the bills, Federal Reserve note. Though the Federal Reserve does that, and though the Federal Reserve's chairman is appointed by the president. With me so far? Since 2008 when the current financial crisis took hold, the Fed has done all kinds of things that central banks just don't do.
Complementary Currency. Create your money.
Time Banks. The Monetary Future. Thomas H. Greco Jr. Bernard Lietaer. Transition Currency 2.0 - an online banking system for local money. UPDATE (10th June 2011) The Secret of Oz - Winner, Best Docu of 2010 v.1.09.11. Ripplepay.com. MAD3/4/2 Money as Debt III - Evolution Beyond Money Part 4: Monetary Reform Movements / segment 2.