Systems like these (the Lime, the beer tokens at Fuerzabruta) permit more information to be collected and analysed about how “money” is spent. Tokens and alternative paper currencies are clear ways to measure simple parameters such as how much beer was consumed, or how much money was spent at local businesses during a given amount of time. With things like near-field communication being developed, will we see perhaps not alternate currencies, but alternate methods of payment generating masses of data – data that has its own (substantial) value?

In the first case, the new ‘currency’ is valuable because it is scarce and is perceived to retain value where the actual legal tender does not. In the second case, the new ‘currency’ is roughly pegged to legal tender (although this is not guaranteed), but it has value in its own right as a tool for better information about the local economy… and is very easy to move without charge over long distances.

The excellent Fuerzabruta show at this year’s Edinburgh festival has a bar that only takes tokens, purchased from a booth. I think they make money from this state of affairs, since 2 tokens for a beer seems cheaper than £3 for a beer… despite the fact that each token costs £1.50! Since the show takes place in a vulnerable circus tent, it makes sense for them to issue their own currency that has no value elsewhere.

I’m reading the long and delightful Baroque Cycle trilogy by Neal Stephenson at the moment. It charts the way in which science and mathematics helped in the development of civilisation. One heroine manipulates the markets of Amsterdam, and finally the foreign policy of all of France, using the Mathematics she has learnt from Leibniz. Issac Newton is installed as director of the Royal Mint, to restore some public faith in the new coins issues by the English government.

I think what is interesting about currencies is the way in which their percieved value can rise or fall, depending on what is backing them up. The Euro, Yen, Pound and Dollar all rise or fall depending on the strength and prospects of their respective economies, and the artworks above gain value based on the expectations of the buyer, the popularity of the artist, etcetera, which provide reasons and incentives for the storekeepers to participate in the new currency.

I’m not sure whether I find the Limehouse experiment particularly interesting, precisely because I’m not sure what value or reason the Limes have for being there. Since it is pegged to the pound, there’s no fluctuation in value and no market incentive to trade in Limes rather than pounds. If the value of Limes had the potential to rise based on some lottery, then that would add an extra dimension to the proceedings.

However, I think your point about how they visibly prove the economic benefits of the conference to the locals is interesting. It would be interesting to see how this works on a larger scale.

Currency tagging?
a) sign, stamp or otherwise mark a £5 note, and see where it goes.
b) Surely individual pounds could be electronically tagged as they are paid out by the government? So long as they stay in their ‘electronic’ form in various bank accounts, one could get some very useful data about the flow of money through the economy.
c = a + b) We have print-on-demand books: Why not print-on-demand money, each with its own bar code?
(All a bit Orwellian I suppose, but a good quirk for a sci-fi story, I reckon).

A long comment, I know, but I’m on a train.

x R