Echoes of the Great Depression: Detroit local scrip
Crain's is carrying an AP story today about a newly created scrip currency for use in Detroit. According to the somewhat more detailed story in the Detroit News, the currency, Detroit Cheers, is backed by $3000 placed in escrow by three Detroit businessmen: Jerry Belanger, (owner of the Park Bar and Bucharest Grill), John Linardos (owner of Motor City Brewing Works), and Tim Tharp (owner of Grand Trunk Pub). So far the currency is only being accepted by a small number of businesses, but given that it's convertible back to dollars and is thus relatively low-risk, I suspect that it may get picked up relatively broadly. I'm curious what the viability is of expanding the escrow base of such a local currency.
Categories: Blog, Bootstrapping