Tag: environment

A new type of money for a Mayan community to build resilience in a context of economic crisis

IJCCR

Ranulfo Paiva Sobrinho1, Claudia Maricusa Agraz Hernández2, Karla Vanessa Córdoba Brenes3, Juan Osti Sáenz2, Ademar Ribeiro Romeiro4

1Researcher at the Institute of Economics in the Campinas State University. Cidade Universitária “Zeferino Vaz” Barão Geraldo – Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil. CEP: 13083-970. Telefonista – PABX: 55 19 3521-2121. Co-founder of Sustainability.School

2Instituto EPOMEX, Universidad Autónoma de Campeche, Av. Agustín Melgar s/n entre Juan de la Barrera y Calle 20, Col. Buenavista, A.P. 24039 San Francisco de Campeche, Campeche, México. Teléfono (52) 981 8119800 ext. 62309. Fax ext. 62399.

3Co-founder of Sustainability.School. http://www.sustainability.school

4Researcher at the Institute of Economics in the Campinas State University. Cidade Universitária “Zeferino Vaz” Barão Geraldo – Campinas, São Paulo, Brasil. CEP: 13083-970. Telefonista – PABX: 55 19 3521-2121.

ABSTRACT

We present the proposal of a complementary currency, the Sodziles, to strength the local economy and social ties among the members of the Mayan community of Sodzil (Campeche, Mexico) that work in a mangrove restoration project. This project is important both for the conservation of mangroves and for the social and economic dynamics of Sodzil community. The Sodziles are backed by the restored mangrove ecosystem. We describe key local environmental, social and economic aspects, as well as the macroeconomic context within which the project is developing, specifically, the credit expansion and level of indebtedness in the various sectors of the country, and especially in Campeche State, where the restoration project is in process. From there, it was possible to identify that Mexico is close to a strong economic recession due to the high level of indebtedness of the sectors of its economy. The occurrence of this crisis may affect government funds to finance the restoration project, as well as economic activities such as construction works on which some of the Mayan descendants depend. There is no crisis yet, but it is important to consider the Sodziles as an option in case this crisis happens and also to ensure that the recovered mangroves are protected.

Article Ranulfo et al.pdf

To cite this article: Ranulfo Paiva Sobrinho et al. (2017) ‘A new type of money for a Mayan community to build resilience in a context of economic crisis’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 2017 Volume 21 (Summer) 85-97 <www.ijccr.net> ISSN 1325-9547. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2017.010

Classifying non-bank currency systems using web data

IJCCR

This paper develops a new classification of non-bank currency systems based on a lexical analysis from French-language web data in order to derive an endogenous typology of monetary projects, based on how these currencies are depicted on the internet. The advantage of this method is that it by-passes problematic issues currently found in the literature to uncover a clear classification of non-bank currency systems from exogenous elements. Our textual corpus consists of 320 web pages, corresponding to 1,210 text pages. We first apply a downward hierarchical clustering method to our data, which enables us to endogenously derive five different classes and make distinctions among non-bank currency system and between these and the standard monetary system. Next, we perform a similarity analysis. Our results show that all non-bank currency systems define themselves in relation to the standard monetary system, with the exception of Local Exchange Trading Systems.

Ariane Tichit*, Clément Mathonnat*, Diego Landivar**

* Clermont University, Auvergne University, CNRS, UMR 6587, CERDI, F-63009 Clermont Fd. Email: ariane.tichit@udamail.f; Clement.MATHONNAT@udamail.fr; ** ESC Clermont, 63000 Clermont-Fd. Email: diego.landivar@france-bs.com.

Keywords

non-bank money, text mining, web data, downward hierarchical clustering, similarity analysis

Article Tichit pdf

To cite this article: Tichit, A., Mathonnat, C.,  and Landivar, D. (2016) ‘Classifying non-bank currency systems using web data’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 20 (Summer) 24-40  <www.ijccr.net>  ISSN  1325-9547. http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2016.002

The “commodity – money – commodity” Mutual Credit Complementary Currency System. Marxian money to promote community trade and market economy

IJCCR

Samo Kavčič

Šercerjeva ul.26, 4240 Radovljica, Slovenia. E-mail: kavcic917@gmail.com

Abstract

The Mutual Credit Currency System, this most radical form of endogenous money, was evaluated and compared with Marx’s Commodity-Money-Commodity requirement.  A simple simulation of a small community closed loop economy was used to illustrate the functioning of two types of mutual credit currency systems. The first, dubbed MCSG, behaved according to the specifications and recommendations of the mutual credit currency system’s founding fathers, Riegel and Greco. The second, dubbed the Komoko Monetary System, or abbreviated to KMS, was a sub-type of the mutual credit currency system with some additional restrictions and one additional liberty. The main restriction introduced in the KMS was that it almost exclusively supported the exchange of only newly produced goods and services. The liberty introduced is forecast-based credit allocation. It was shown that the MCSG has an inconsistency that could potentially lead to instability. The restrictions applied within the KMS can provide a remedy for this potential flaw, while at the same time rendering the KMS compliant with Marx’s requirement. The monetary control measures applicable in KMS were discussed, which guarantee robustness and stability and make KMS a true complement to the official fractional reserve banking.

Keywords

Mutual credit system  , Commodity – money – commodity, Cash flow forecast, Currency circuit,  Monetary control,  Endogenous money

Article kavcic pdf

To cite this article: International Journal of Community Currency Research 20 (Summer) 41-53. <www.ijccr.net>  ISSN  1325-9547. http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2016.003

How Green is Our Money? Mapping the Relationship between Monetary Systems and the Environment

noellonghurst

The causal link between economic growth and environmental degradation has received much attention in recent social science literature(s). Although such studies have generated key insights, the role of monetary systems – as central components of all modern economies – has been almost completely overlooked. This papers argue that monetary systems affect natural environments through the economic activities that particular monetary systems promote. It focuses on two specific aspects of any monetary system: governance and scale. With respect to the former, it shows how the rules that govern monetary systems can promote economic practices with environmental implications. With respect to the latter, the paper shows how the scale at which money is issued and/or circulates affects patterns and intensities of economic activity, both of which have clear environmental consequences. A corollary of the argument is that changing the governance and scale of monetary systems can alter economic activity in environmentally-harmful or -helpful ways.

Skylar Brooks

IJCCR 2015 Brooks

To cite this article: Brooks, S. (2015) ‘How Green is Our Money? Mapping the Relationship between Monetary Systems and the Environment’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 19 (Winter) 12-18 <www.ijccr.net> ISSN 1325-9547 http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2015.018

Beyond growth: problematic relationships between the financial crisis, care and public economies, and alternative currencies

IJCCR

Financing non-capitalist (public, solidarity and care) economies with current monetary resources raises many economic and environmental problems. This research focuses on the opportunities offered by alternative currencies as a possible solution and discusses their limits. We demonstrate how time-based systems of measure, exchange and credit can foster sustainable financing of non-capitalist economies in a more economically efficient, localised and ecological way. The key is to link them to an average value of labour time, which can significantly widen the power, functions and economic role of alternative currencies. Above all it can foster a new type of universal ecological protection against speculative finance and exploitation of resources, promoting a return to taking care: of ourselves, of others, of our community currencies and the world we live in.

Maurizio Ruzzene

IJCCR 2015 Ruzzene

To cite this article: Ruzzene, M. (2015) ‘Beyond growth: problematic relationships between the financial crisis, care and public economies, and alternative currencies’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 19 (Summer) 81-93  <www.ijccr.net>  ISSN  1325-9547 http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2015.009

Emerging trend of complementary currencies systems as policy instruments for environmental purposes: changes ahead?

IJCCR

Using complementary currencies systems as policy instruments for environmental purposes is a trend that seems to be progressively emerging in Europe. The Belgian Science Policy INESPO Project, which provides the framework for the research presented in this paper, is building on this emerging trend. The aim of the INESPO project is indeed to build new instruments for energy saving policies in the household sector based on the innovative coupling of Complementary Currencies (CC) and Smart Meters (SM). According to the rationale of the project, the new CC-SM instruments should promote behavioural changes in everyday life as well as encourage households to invest in energy efficiency. The idea behind the project is not to miss the opportunity of including an incentive scheme for behavioural change should a significant SM roll-out take place.

In order to gain insights for the design of the CC part of the instrument, a first step was to turn to projects that had in the past already used CC as policy instrument for behavioural change towards sustainability. To this purpose, projects which have pioneered this path in Europe were analysed. However, although this emerging trend for CC systems had not been left unnoticed by academics (see, for instance Seyfang, 2006 for an insightful discussion on the contribution of NU-Spaarpas to sustainable consumption, or Blanc 2010 and Blanc and Fare, 2010 for a system typology), it appeared that, to the best of our knowledge, no taxonomy of their constitutive parameters had been developed yet.

In this paper, we would like to contribute to the research on CC as policy instruments for environmental sustainability by presenting a selection of such CC systems and by proposing a taxonomy of their constitutive parameters. The resulting hierarchical classification of parameters is also intended to serve as a building tool for designing similar CC systems. However, in our view, “going down the bones” of CC systems, as it is done with the taxonomy, is not enough to make such CC systems thrive. Indeed, beyond the systematic list of parameters that will define the global architecture of the system, attention should also be given to “flesh” (e.g. expectations from stakeholders and carriers of the system) and “soul” (e.g. the conceptual framework used to build the system).

Hélène Joachain and Frédéric Klopfert

To cite this article: Joachain, H. and Klopfert, F. (2012) ‘Emerging trend of complementary currencies systems as policy instruments for environmental purposes: changes ahead?’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 16 (D) 156-168  <www.ijccr.net> ISSN  1325-9547 http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2012.022

IJCCR 2012 Joachain Klopfert