Cities Are Printing Their Own Money?
Running out of cash? Just print your own money. Indeed many cash-starved US towns are doing that right now.
Last year two Detroit businessmen got together at a local bar for chit-chat over a few drinks. They were lamenting the shortage of money in the inner city area and the resultant difficulties that local businesses were facing. Together, they hit on the idea to print their own money. Their idea gave birth to the Detroit Cheer, a local promissory note accepted by some city businesses and individual tradesmen.
There is nothing illegal about this; anyone can print his own money so long it does not resemble any other valid currency. In the Great Depression era many local currencies were introduced which were legal tenders in their own neighborhood.
Detroit isn’t the only city. Residents in North Fork, California, and Piedmont, North Carolina, have already come up with their own currency, while people in Brooklyn, New York, and South Bend, Indiana, are following suit.
Although the currencies are only good for local businesses, they do serve a very useful promotional purpose for those shops. The usefulness of the local currency depends on the size of the network that accepts the currency as legal tenders. The wider the network, the more successful the venture.
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