Category: 24, 1 (2020) Winter

New CCS idea for debate

IJCCR

Volume 24, 1 – Winter (2020), pp. 61-74

The Financing of Investments in Long-term Assets and the Inverse Maturity of Deposits in the Commodity-Money-Commodity Type of Mutual Credit

Samo Kavčič*

*Independent author, Radovjica, Slovenia – Email: samo.kavcic@dobrava.net

Abstract

This paper focuses on the financing of investments in long-term assets in the Commodity-Money-Commodity (komoko) monetary system (KMS). The KMS is a special, currently still theoretical version of mutual credit, first introduced in the 2016 summer issue of the IJCCR journal. In dealing with capital goods financial circulation is indispensable. However, financial circulation is prone to speculation, a practice not at all endorsed by CC (complementary and community currencies) communities. Separation of the real and financial exchange circles introduced in the original KMS paper is a method by which community currencies can dispense with speculation and other forms of potentially harmful financial circulation. Separation of the real and financial exchange circles proposed by the original KMS paper is based on a rigid, rule-based barrier between the real economy – which produces new goods and services on one side, and the financial economy – which deals with the exchange of old durable and capital goods on the other. This separation method may, however, be potentially either too cumbersome for businesses or too easy to evade. An improved method of separation of the exchange circles is proposed which basically eliminates the elements of the rule-based barrier and substitutes it with a new feature called inverse maturity of deposits. To implement inverse maturity of deposits, the KMS evolves from a plain ledger-based currency into a form that resembles accounts payables and accounts receivables. This new form of KMS which tracks the maturity of credits (demand deposits) puts the KMS in stark contrast to the existing fractional reserve banking which tracks the maturity of loans i.e. debits. The paper discloses how the KMS, featuring inverse maturity of deposits, dispenses with excessive financial circulation without impeding the real circulation and at the same time supports the use, exchange and production of capital goods. This renders KMS a currency that can crowd out legal tender.

Keywords

Mutual Credit, Finance and Investment, Velocity of Money, Inverse Maturity, Liquidity

Article Kavčič

To cite this article: Kavčič, S (2020) ‘The financing of investments in long-term assets and the inverse maturity of deposits in the commodity-money-commodity type of mutual credit’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Winter 2020) 61-73; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.005

 

 

New article on theoretical typology of CCS

IJCCR

Volume 24, 1 – Winter (2020), pp. 45-60

A Conceptual framework for classifying currencies

Louis Larue UCLouvain, Belgium, louis.larue@uclouvain.be; Place Montesquieu 3, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Abstract

An impressive variety of new forms of money has aroused in recent decades from various groups of people and various kinds of institutions. These currencies are at the heart of intense debates, which raise important, but often neglected, normative issues. The diversity of their goals, uses and characteristics is so large that it makes some preliminary distinctions necessary. This paper aims at providing a proper background for the discussion of the possible merits and drawbacks of different kinds of currencies. It proposes a classification that demarcates currencies according to how they relate to several crucial normative issues. Its aim is to show, for every type of currency, and as unambiguously as possible, to which side of these controversies it lies.

Keywords

Money, alternative currencies, typologies, classification. Article Larue To cite this article: Larue, L (2020) ‘A conceptual framework for classifying currencies’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Winter 2020) 45-60; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.004

New article on conceptualising money

IJCCR

Volume 24, 1 – Winter (2020), pp. 30-44

Image, value and belief: assessing money through Simondon

Diego Viana FFLCH-USP, Rua Girassol, 554, 183, São Paulo-SP Brasil, vianadeoliveira@gmail.com

Abstract

Regarding money, the theme of belief is usually formulated in terms of belief in money. The same is true of trust, as well the value of money. One should also raise the question of trust, belief and value through money, or given its presence. This suggestion is inspired by the philosophy of Gilbert Simondon, whose theory of psychic and collective individuation aims at overcoming the dichotomy between methodological individualism and a sociology of vast categories. Simondon’s theory has three aspects that could inform the research on money. Firstly, the philosopher raises the question of how groups are constituted: they subsist by the same process that gives birth to individual personalities. A group is defined by the categories it mobilizes, and most importantly, that it produces while constituting itself. Secondly, Simondon underscores the inventive aspect of this emergence of groups, an invention analogous to technical invention, one that redraws the potentials at work in the collective: it can be those of the territory, of the bodies, or of the minds. This inventive character prolongs these potentials as structures, and this is what the collective is all about. Finally, Simondon develops a theory of the “image cycle” that can help us understand the continuity between this indefinite and infinite field of potentials, the typical categorization of groups, and the formation of images and objects (technical, sacred, aesthetic), which crystalize desires, beliefs and hopes of individuals as members of groups. These aspects clarify our wish to alter the way the questions regarding money are enounced, as well as that of the affects it mobilizes and informs. Since money manifests itself in its operation, as image or object, it can be considered to stem from the simondonian image cycle, giving sense to groups and mobilizing potentials, desires and beliefs. We explore and explicit the differences implied by this approach, underscoring Simondon’s contributions to social thought. Money is a privileged object for the application of Simondon’s thought, because of its plasticity, the vastness of the domains in which it operates, and the magnitude of forces it mobilizes.

Keywords

Image, group, belief, value, Simondon, interpretation Article Viana To cite this article: Viana, D.  (2020) ‘Image, value and belief: Assessing money through Simondon’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Winter 2020) 30-44; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.003

New article on CCS in France

IJCCR

Volume 24, 1 – Winter (2020), pp. 11-29

Toward spatial analyses of local currencies: the case of France

Jérôme Blanc * and Csaba Lakócai **

* University of Lyon, Sciences Po Lyon, UMR Triangle, Lyon (France). Email: jerome.blanc@sciencespo-lyon.fr

** University of Pécs, Doctoral School of Regional Policy and Economics (Hungary); Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Regional Studies. Email: lakocai.csaba@ktk.pte.hu; lakocai.csaba@rkk.hu

Abstract

This paper suggests that studies on local currencies (LCs) should engage in spatial analyses, as far as their territorial distribution is highly heterogeneous. It provides a statistical overview of the territorial features of LCs functioning in France, wherein their number has increased solidly and remarkably fast over the last decade. However, there is a huge variety in their extent, and their development has not been spatially even, especially with regards to the administrative subdivision of the country in departments (counties or departments that correspond to the NUTS-3 level of regions according to the administrative territorial classification of the EU). This uneven distribution let us presume that it is interrelated with different territorial conditions, which motivated our research. We build a size index of LCs and provide a cluster presentation of them as of 2018. A departmental territorial breakdown of data shows statistically significant spatial concentrations of LCs in France. We then provide insights into the reasons for such concentrations.

Keywords

Local currencies, France, territorial distribution, spatial statistics, size index.

Article Blanc Lakocai

To cite this article: Blanc, J. and Lakócai, C. (2020) ‘Toward spatial analyses of local currencies: The case of France’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Winter 2020) 11-29; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.002

New article on CC in Japan

IJCCR

Volume 24, 1 – Winter (2020), pp. 1-10

Historical transition of community currencies in Japan

Shigeto Kobayashi*, Yoshihisa Miyazaki** and Masayuki Yoshida***

* Sapporo City University, Japan. Email: s.kobayashi@scu.ac.jp

** National Institute of Technology, Sendai College, Japan. Email: frontier-spirit-21-y.m@nifty.com

*** Joetsu University of Education, Japan. Email: yoshida@juen.ac.jp

Abstract

This study investigates the historical transition of diversifying community currencies (CCs) in Japan. We searched for papers, reports, newspaper articles, and websites about Japanese CCs to acquire all available information on CCs issued in Japan. We classify the types of CCs by purpose and examine their development process by organizing the purposes, issuing forms, and starting year for each CC.

Our survey results show that 792 CCs were issued in Japan. The largest number of CCs was 130 issued in 2002. New CCs have gradually decreased since 2002, and approximately 15-20 CCs were issued annually since 2008. The purpose of issuing CCs also changed; CCs aiming to “create connections among people” were the most frequent, though this changed in 2002 to “revitalizing the regional economy.” The number of issued CCs to “create connections among people” was in third place in 2011, while “promoting resource recycling” was second.

To classify CCs in Japan, we conduct a cluster analysis using sample scores obtained by Hayashi’s quantification method type III as a dependent variable for the issuing purpose. Many CCs issued in the first half of 2000 belonged to Cluster 4, “formation of people’s connection and regional economic revitalization;” however, those issued in recent years belonged to Cluster 3, “forestry and regional economic revitalization.” Although the number of new CCs decreased drastically in the past 15 years, CCs are clearly evolving as a tool for solving social problems with changing issuing purposes.

Keywords

Classification, cluster analysis, issuing purposes, issuing forms, Japanese CCs.

Article Kobayashi et al.

To cite this article: Kobayashi, S, Miyazaki, Y and Yoshida, M (2020) ‘Historical transition of community currencies in Japan’ International Journal of Community Currency Research Volume 24 (Winter 2020) 1-10; http://www.ijccr.net; ISSN 1325-9547; DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2020.001