Home » Economic Development

Detroit Introduces Local Currency

22 April 2009 No Comment

The city of Detroit has unveiled a local currency, according to Model D media.

We’ve written about Toledo’s buy local movement. Printing a local currency takes the buy-local economic development notion to its highest level.

PD*28075283

The exchange of local currency requires a commitment from buyers to spend their money at local merchants.

Many communities from Ithaca, New York to Pittsboro, N.C., have resorted to this Depression-era concept to stimulate the local economy, USA Today reports.

Local greenbacks are called Hours in Ithaca and Plenty in North Carolina. Detroit has elected to call its currency Cheers.

“This is the Detroit economic stimulus package,” said Greg Gedda, owner of Uniontown, a Detroit restaurant.

$4,500 worth of Cheers are currently in circulation.

-AS

Popularity: 3% [?]

  • http://politicsandplace.blogspot.com Alex

    Not sure how I feel about this. It’s a little frightening. Then again, Disney has its own currency too…

  • http://stonecrop.wordpress.com/ Jim

    The economic rationale for community currencies is pretty good. Communities that drop all their economic defenses are easy prey for globalism’s cargo cult evangelists. Local scrip is a “soft” defense and keeps capital concentrated where it was, ahem, created in the first place.

    Kudos to Detroit and best of luck with the currency.

  • http://www.thewomblog.com Bruce B

    Should we really be encouraged that localities are resorting to Depression Era measures — that didn’t work?