The Scarfie Dollar

by Peter Wilson

Traditionally commmunity currencies have thrived when unemployment is high, and then tend to die back once things pick up in the national economy. But there is nothing to be lost in trying it, and if it can be proven that community currencies can be effective in times of economic boom as well as in downturns then we are well on the way to developing a new sustainable money system. And above all I'm more interested in building community than creating employment (there is little community amongst the wider student community, with all the associated psychological and social problems)

The "Scarfie Dollar" will be a basic LETS mutal credit system, with demurrage on positive balances. The primary method of transaction will be transferrable time-dated cheques (the Tlaloc model). Each cheque will have an expiry date of about a week - so theoretically everyone will cash them in frequently (at least students are all in the same area), and the balances will be entered into the computer system. Transactions could also take place over the phone or on the internet. The cheques will have advertising on them, paid for in national dollars. The revenue from the advertising (with discount rates for local businesses involved in the scheme) will presumably be enough to cover the overheads of the scheme. There will also be instructions on the back of every cheque, explaining how the system works, and what it has to offer.

My problems will be the same as all schemes - people need to be convinced of the merits of the scheme, and students are more selfish than most. I plan to start it and generate publicity with a simple concept: Students generate large amounts of rubbish, and this causes the community some concern. So for one bag of rubbish picked up from the footpath (or wherever), a student will earn one scarfie dollar. Those dollars could be used to get an 80% discount on movies at certain (quiet) times of the day - with Hoyts then gaining good publicity. The Student Association-owned food outlets on campus could give discounts too.