time banks

There's been several Hour Currency's the past few decades, perhaps most referenced in america, is Ithaca HOURS. Ithaca HOURs popped up during the early 90s recession (ie, during economically stressed times), and was implemented as a closed and anonymous paper currency.

Time Banks are not all implemented this way. A more modern medium is to do this via the web. Time Banks offers online software to help communities keep track of the hours they share together. As with all other currency efforts i've seen, it's richly steeped in a value system that believes in social equality (note the social justice jargon all over the place on their website).

Interestingly, because their is no monetary value placed on these exchanges, the IRS does not tax transactions. It's placed more in the category of gift economy. perhaps it's a bit of a grey area, as it's a tightly reciprocal gift economy (different than the pay-forward true giving value system of currencies like the giving coins i've blogged about).

I quite like these value systems these groups put forth, though i question their effacy in getting larger economic circles involved in trade with these mediums. Most business and economic spheres are steeped in a division of labor culture that values hours unequally, based on perceived value to the buyer, and what the market price is (ie, the value to the buyer is always higher than the price in the market place, which does sound a bit unfair, doesn’t it?). also, it's a bit hard to measure other forms of capital (like goods) as "labor capital". while it intellectually makes sense, it even makes my own brain hurt a little bit to overload labor with capital. I can see why these social justice people believe there's a conspiracy against labor when power (ie capital) is defined as something that it's not.

anyhow, this floating exchange rate between people's exchangeable hours makes me think about the exchange rates between multiple community currencies and possible private business scripts. I struggle a bit with the loose lexicon of this subject. Changes in community exchange rates (with dollars or other currencies) would basically result in community pay raises or pay cuts (when they are selling their labor/goods), and community buying power increases or decreases (whey they are buying from outside their community system.

This power sharing story already plays out geopolitically between nation-states. I can hear the time hour community railing against the economic injustice of whole groups of people trapped in a currency that relegates their whole nation to sweatshop activity. I cant really blame them for going to the opposite extreme of equality for all. A noble effort, though would need some innovation to bring it out of the fringe.