http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/23-Valley-businesse\
s-to-use-new-currency-Phoenix/ns2ryIQT_UOTScVNqM96sg.cspx
By: Tim Vetscher
Email: tvetscher@...
Date: 6/23 7:09 pm

A Phoenix Bux token worth $1 dollar at participating Valley
businesses. (Tim Vetscher) Click the play button on the video
window to the right to see the story

PHOENIX -- In light of the economic downturn, a number of
communities across the country have started printing their own
money.

It's called scrip, or local currency, and now the idea is coming
to Arizona for the very first time.

It's called Phoenix Bux and it launches July 4th.

"It's all about supporting the local businesses, if we shop
locally, it keeps the money local," said Joey Grether, who came
up with the idea for Phoenix Bux.

It's based off the concept of local currency, essentially a way
for a community to exchange services and locally produced goods.

Detroit, Ithaca, and the Berkshire region of Massachusetts all
currently use a form of local currency.

"It just keeps the money in the community rather than shopping at
a corporate chain where your money will be siphoned off to a
headquarter in some other city or potentially another country,"
said Grether.

Starting on the 4th of July, 1,600 of the coins will go into
circulation around the Phoenix area.

The tokens can be used for a dollar off at participating
businesses.

"You don't have to participate if you don't want to but if you do
you can just ask for your change in Phoenix Bux and you can use
those tokens at other participating businesses in the Valley,"
said Grether.

So far, 23 businesses have signed up to accept Phoenix Bux
including Conspire, Carly's Bistro, The Lost Leaf Bar and Gallery
and Hood Ride Bicycle Shop.

"A lot of us downtown already think locally, it's a great way to
introduce the concept to outsiders," said Derrick Pacheco, owner
of Hood Ride.

If the concept catches on, Phoenix Bux may just one day do away
with the dollar.

"We're taking a baby step," said Grether. "Is Phoenix able to
handle local currency? We think it is."

http://www.abc15.com/content/news/phoenixmetro/central/story/23-Valley-businesse\
s-to-use-new-currency-Phoenix/ns2ryIQT_UOTScVNqM96sg.cspx?p=Comments

KingofPaupers - June 28 2009 9:21 AM

http://johnturmel.com/ariz97.htm is the July 19 1997 Arizona
Republic article by Paul Brinkley-Rogers titled "The World's
Richest Pauper" where he wrote:

"Turmel is spreading the notion of "local employment-trading
systems in the Valley. We do not neede money but, he says,
instead would do better with a new system of vouchers issued for
labor, interest-free loans that could end poverty and hunger.
Casino chips and coins have a lot in common except that chips
never lose their value but money does."

Jct: As the ship of state finances sink, it's nice to see another
new community currency lifeboat starting up, especially in
Phoenix. But best of all, when the local currency is pegged to
the Time Standard of Money (how many dollars/hour child labor)
Hours earned locally can be intertraded with other timebanks
globally! In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with an IOU
for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours. If you want to come
stay in Canada, it will cost you 5 hours worth of your Phoenix
Bux. But we'll take them in hundreds of Canadian LETS and SEL
(Quebec) and timebanks. U.N. Millennium Declaration UNILETS
Resolution C6 to governments is for a time-based currency to
restructure the global financial architecture.
See my banking systems engineering analysis at
http://youtube.com/kingofthepaupers
So sure, right now, you've only got 23 businesses and but imagine
the day when all businesses are taking advantage of interest-free
financing too.