The Rise of the New Barter Economy?

Welcome back to Two Dollar Bill. Unfortunately, we cannot count on the economy to make any New Year's resolutions. However, we can ponder what market trends 2009 will bring. Time magazine recently featured an offbeat article about the rise of alternative monetary currencies: "Alternative Currencies Grow in Popularity." The article even gave a hometown shout-out to Ithaca Hours. So, will the new year ring in a new barter economy in the midst of the recession? Only time will tell. In the meantime, however, if the Fed's printing presses should fail from excessive "quantitative easing", at least we will have other sources of funny money to play with.

Closer to home, "Ithaca Hours," with a livable hourly wage as the standard, were launched during the 1991 recession to sustain the economy in Ithaca, N.Y., and stem the loss of jobs. Hours, which are legal and taxable, circulate within the community, moving from local shop to local artisan and back, rather than leaking out into the larger monetary system. The logo on the Hour reads "In Ithaca We Trust."