> >How so? It certainly wouldn't work as a substitute for widely-used
> >currencies, that's obvious. But as for developing a smaller, more
> >contained economy to keep trade in the neighborhood, it doesn't
> >strike me as a bad or nostalgic idea. (Hard to see "nostalgia" in
> >the scheme, since I can't recall any time when local currencies
> >actually existed.) What's the argument against it?
Question: When you start your local currency system, do you plan to have MRI's in your local hospital? GE accepts payment in US$, not local paper. Do you plan to have ambulences for emergency ER care? Ford Motor accepts US$. How about computers, construction equipment, cancer drugs, etc.? You have to have dollars to pay for all that stuff. Of course, you could borrow the dollars from Citicorp, but pretty soon you'll have yourself a nasty little external debt problem. Then you'll have to bring in the IMF. This idea has little to recommend it.
Seth