Wall Street Notices Local Currency Trend

A couple of days ago, as I sat eating breakfast while visiting family, I picked up a copy of the Wall Street Journal.

While not a newspaper I am in the habit of reading, a lot of useful information can be gleaned of our a quick peruse, or even a more in-depth survey of the contents.

Some interesting tidbits about that day's Journal:

Of three color advertisements in the front section of the Wall St journal, one is from Monsanto, advertising genetically modified crops. One is for Fox News, and one is for Morgan Stanley, advertising investments in privatized water.

all three made me shudder...
But...it was all genetically modified doom and gloom, commodification of water and Fox propaganda....on the front page of the Wall Street journal today I found an article about local currency!

"When it comes to cash, A Thai VIllages says, "Baht Humbug" covers the growth of a local currency during the economic recession of the late nineties in Thailand.

Of course the article forgets to tell us that there are local currencies all over the world, including in well developed economies in the EU (although a brief mention of Berkshares in the US made made it into the article). Also not mentioned is the fact that local currencies played a big role in depression era trading in the US and Europe, and, in fact, during times of economic woe, communities can cushion, and often times reverse, economic downturn by creating well designed complementary currency systems.

One of the best examples of complementary currency's ability to create resilient local economies is the Austrian Worgl Experiment

But for all the articles short comings, and my own prejudice against the advertisements and general focus of the Wall Street Journal, it is still amazing to think that Local Currency has floated to the front page of the Wall Street Journal.

Interesting times indeed.