wsj getting excited about alt money experiments

http://online.wsj.com/video/the-coming-currency-revolution/25225F5A-B979-4609-A55D-1BAE9A1BA158.html

great video talking about the money movement, discussing vens, attention points integrated into outlook, doug rushkoff, and even has an image of open money foundation.

Swapcove - forget money exchange!

Money is often cited as being invented to overcome barter's shortcomings. But is it the most efficient form of exchange under all circumstances?

The answer is often no in the world of geopolitics. Last i heard, Iran was swapping rice with Thailand for Oil.

Thailand on Monday said it planned to barter rice for oil with Iran in the clearest example to date of how the triple financial, fuel and food crisis is reshaping global trade as countries struggle with high commodity prices and a lack of credit.

When the unit-of-account is undesirable, or in short supply, then you see more of this. also, if you happen to be the right people, with the right combo trade, it's pretty easy todo the swap.

On the micro-level, I wonder if priceless things are difficult to sell, but could be easy to exchange for something else of value. Have you ever had something you didnt want, didnt want to sell, but thought it still has value? perhaps swapcove.com is right for you!

I also wonder if the effect of turning your selling experience into a buying experience has large positive psychological effects. and perhaps exchanging stuff for stuff is twice as efficient as selling from some, and buying from others.

This san francisco start-up is exploring the question of how big this monetary exchange market failure is for people better served as swappers. If/when they find success, I'm sure the tale will be told about how they served the underserved pez-dispenser swap market, and grew from there. I wish them luck.

Democratic Banking Innovation

The form of money administration is as important as the form of money itself. Good Bank Finance, from the same area as Berkshire Bucks, is attempting to reinvent banks as a not-for-profit private bank, controlled by one-vote per shareholder, rather than one-vote per share, where all the profits (post some small dividend) are given to non-profits.

I wonder if there is too much innovation going on with this effort for it to be successful? all the same, i wish them luck and am excited for them to succeed. The banking industry needs more models based on preserving, rather than raping, the collective commons.

Art as Money

Consider this comment quoted on bloomberg:

“Old paintings are good stores of value,” said Beijing- based dealer Tian Kai, who attended today’s auction. “You know these works are one-of-a-kind and of superb craftsmanship.”

Store of Value describes market worth in the future, and is front and center in the conversation about money. A good store of value is something that you can sell for the same (or more) for something else considered valuable (like dollars, or in the case of inflation, a basket of real goods).

The dealer almost in the same breathe describes an old painting's monopolistic hold on its intrinsic value. Alas, if Van Gogh wanted to make a million bucks while he was still alive, perhaps he could have cut his hands off instead of his ear.

Not surprisingly, bankers have had a fascination with art since at least the pre-Renaissance. The Mendici's tried to buy their soul back from their usury ways and funded religious and enlightenment art in the process. And bankers today, not as concerned with saving their intrinsic soul, consider paintings as bonds to hang on the wall, to sell off in the future. Gold in vaults are just not as sexy a woman surrounded by beauty.

This all makes me wonder about the design of money, and stores of value. Art Price Insurance, a little derivative paper that guarantees a high price for your new art, could be a great hit with bankers contemplating auction bids. The confidence in the value of the art can be reaffirmed by the seller, if they (or someone on their behalf) was willing to take the art back in the future (perhaps at some annually discounted rate). Just like how a bank will take back your money at face value.

Could money have intrinsic design value built into it? Transform a masterpiece into not just a store of value, like gold in a vault, but a medium of exchange, through a limited print edition fractional reserve system, where art money is guaranteed in value by the gallery. I'm sure artists would get excited that they might finally be able to make some money. Literally. Now if they're only willing to cut off their hands to prop up prices.

Mobile Money

Jan Chipchase has been investigating mobile mediums of exchange. I was introduced to him via his excellent TED talk, and he talks about using cell phones and money also on his blog.

Jan describes how people wire money to someone in a remote village. They call up the local (privately run) cell phone booth, recharge the operators card with minutes, and the operator converts those minutes into cash for the villager (with a surcharge). The cell phone booth operator gets their money back by renting out the minutes to local villagers.

Hmm, who said hot air was worthless? also reminds me of timebanks, where the unit of account can be measured in talk time. I digress.

Jan points out the economic actor's ID is the phone #. paypal started with email being the economic ID. They've recently added cell phone #s as the ID people can send money to.

anyhow, this illustration is being more fully explored in conferences such as
Mobile Financial Services. clearly, there's some momentum here with exploring this medium of exchange. clear enough to hear EF Hutton.

scanning the blogs on this subject, and digital money is a great one, they seem to be focused on self-regulation to heighten trust, and possibly to heighten the industries barrier's to entry. here's dave birch's economic take:

That's because while no regulation at all might minimise compliance costs for the provider, it does not minimise costs for society as a whole: consumers carry on using more inefficient forms of payment (cash, in the countries being discussed) because they have regulatory certainty.

with mobile money's nomenclature micro-payments, the concept hasnt taken off just yet. perhaps it's because people are aware that the real agenda isnt small-payments but more-payments? I suspect it's not worth the hassle to allow yourself to be nickeled and dimed with a medium that can burn a hole in your pocket. better to stick with nickels and dimes.

But the groundswell is there. as the more people associate their identity with their cell phone, and need this to jingle in their in their pocket, it's probably a matter of a generation or 2 where this will become the choice medium of exchange. I suspect when they stop footsieing around with this micro-payment framing and just make it better than other cash (rather than a way to milk people), it will take off like a rocket.

Open Money Foundation Part 2

I met with the founder last week, and seems to be still figuring out the mission statement of this project. Complementary exchange protocols are interesting, but Gillaume may direct his organization to focus more on the real world issue of how to divert spare capacity to non-profit organizations, by creating Non-Profit Script, or a special purpose LETsystem for non-profits.

Because of the special needs of non-profit donators (in-kind donations, tax record keeping, etc), and because the non-profit community may be more open to the late adopting money crowd, I think there is space for this good cause.

A different mission completely, and just as interesting. It's less technology oriented (creating solutions looking for a problem), and focused on a subset of the world's troubles to solve. I'll report on their activities when they finally settle on their direction.

Mutual Credit as Money

Community Exchange Systems pop up in economically distressed times. When people feel they are short of money, what todo? make it yourselves! here's a system that allows anyone to create a mutual credit (point keeping) system:

Community Exchange System

With the impending implosion of the usury-based, global money system, now is the time to seek a new way of 'doing' money, one not based on debt and controlled by a global monetary elite who seem happy about destroying our planet in the pursuit of profit.

Conventional money is created as debt by private financial institutions for their own profit-making purposes, not as a public service. This is the root cause of the economic, social and environmental problems that beset us. The amount of debt determines the quantity of money, which has nothing to do with the amount of money we need to live decent lives.

CES 'money' is created by its users so it can never be in short supply. So long as you can offer something of value you can have from the community goods and services of like value.

Join the growing community who have discovered a new way of 'doing' money, a healthy money that will create a healthy society.

This is part of the complimentary currency movement that's at the opposite end of the centralized/decentralized money making spectrum (SDRs are on the opposite side).