Neighborly Notes soften economic downturn

By Lisa Rayner
Neighborly Notes Director

During a recession, there are fewer dollars in circulation. Flagstaff and Coconino County are already relatively cash poor, compared to more affluent parts of the country. The scarcity of dollars locally makes it more difficult for Flagstaff residents to buy needed goods and services. This tightening of the dollar supply during economic downturns is not an inevitable event due to a force of nature; it is simply a result of the way our economic system is structured.

The fundamental role of money is to act as a medium of exchange between people who have goods or services to offer and people who have needs to be met. Money is a tool to connect people. Money allows us to help one another by mutually exchanging our skills, talents and resources. Money is simply a carrier of information — the value of traded goods and services.

Flagstaff has an abundance of talented, resourceful residents and numerous locally owned businesses. We also have many community needs that are not being adequately met. A recession makes it especially difficult for many people to afford fresh, healthy food, needed medicine, adequate housing and many other goods and services. There is no good reason why people living in the same community should have skills and resources that go unused and needs that go unmet, and yet not be able to help one another.  

A local medium of exchange like Flagstaff Neigborly Notes helps to bridge the gap caused by an artificial scarcity in the local dollar supply. Neighborly Notes infuse added cash into the Flagstaff economy. An expanded local money supply allows more transactions to take place. Neighborly Notes give residents more money to spend at local businesses that accept the currency. Because Flagstaff Neighborly Notes stay within the community, recirculating between local residents indefinitely, they benefit us over and over again.

Flagstaff Neighborly Notes also facilitate the creative use of local talent. Neighborly Notes are for everyone. Everyone has talents, skills or resources that could fulfill someone else’s need — retirees, teenagers, homemakers, hobbyists, business owners, local nonprofits, local government agencies, and self-employed people are all encouraged to sign up to accept Flagstaff Neighborly Notes in exchange for offered goods and services. Flagstaff Neighborly Notes give everyone an opportunity to meaningfully contribute to community life.

Those of you who may think you have nothing to offer your neighbors actually have many skills and talents that would be of help to other people in Flagstaff. Even such activities as helping an elderly neighbor buy groceries provides a needed service to others. The Time Dollars trading system, part of the Elderplan HMO in Brooklyn, New York has found that even their most house-bound members are able to help others, such as by making phone calls to other senior citizens suffering from depression. Time dollar inventor Edgar Kahn describes community trading systems as "money with care built in."

During the Great Depression, many towns and cities invented their own paper currencies, then called "scrip." Scrip trading systems were sponsored by state and city governments, school districts, chambers of commerce, local banks, local relief committees, manufacturers and merchants. These currencies helped to keep communities afloat by allowing people to meet each others' needs without being restricted by the era's scarcity of federal dollars.

The Flagstaff Neighborly Notes community currency is part of a modern movement to revive the useful role of community currencies. In the last decade, over 2,500 towns and cities in the U.S. and around the world have created their own community trading systems to improve local economies and quality of life. Community currencies do not replace official currencies. Instead, they are designed to supplement national and international money systems.

By helping to connect local resources to local needs, community currencies help create local jobs and greater local self-reliance. Greater economic self-reliance provides a buffer to outside economic dominance and instability. In addition, a community currency improves a community’s quality of life by connecting neighbors to one another.

Meet your neighbors! Help support local businesses! Share your talents and resources with others! Sign up today to accept Flagstaff Neighborly Notes!