51–60 of 61 posts
I live in Bristol and had never heard of the Bristol Pound until this article. It's hardly giving sterling a run for its money.
I also heard about Portland bucks while I was in Oregon, but nobody had those unfortunately. I'd really like to get some in the future.
That's all?
Turning these big companies down seems counter-productive to the goal of keeping the money circulating locally.
In Northern Ireland there are local notes issued as well (by banks). Looks like Monopoly money tbh, but it is accepted widely.
Pretty sure this is completely incorrect. It's sterling just with a slightly different note design including the issuing bank name. It's accepted anywhere sterling is accepted - the only issue I've ever had is that English businesses may not have seen it before and are worried it's fake. Never had any refuse to accept it though.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The currency does not change the law. E.g. if you pay with EUR or USD you still have to pay the appropriate taxes in the format the govn't expects (in sterling). The alternative currencies are no exception.
I agree. But if money is going through normal channels and normal currencies, then it's recorded & HMRC can audit it. If it's going through back-channels, alternative currencies & bitcoins, it's still taxable, but HMRC can't see it so there's a huge temptation to not pay tax. There's a reason your plumber offers you a discount for cash-in-hand :-) if it doesn't go through his books he's not going to pay tax on it. Th…
Doesn't it seem like they should have allowed the various businesses to accept it, but then not allow them to convert the money out of Bristol Pounds? As their BP balances grow, they would be forced to figure out how to integrate more tightly into the local economy, no? Turning these big companies down seems counter-productive to the goal of keeping the money circulating locally.
If you tried this, and somehow got businesses onboard, you might get some extra local economic activity. But mostly you'd just get unofficial currency exchanges popping up that buy Bristol Pounds for, e.g. 90 pence, and resell them to locals for 95 pence.
Not sure I understand how this works. In what way is it different or more beneficial to Sterling if it's on parity?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's a sort of voluntary capital control. It's convertible in only one direction and you can't spend it outside of Bristol. The effect is to encourage local circulation of money rather than letting profit escape Bristol. (I suspect, like a lot of local currency schemes, people also end up benefiting from tax evasion, although I've no evidence on that)
You can - at least in theory - convert it back. As I recall, when the scheme started, it offered a 10% discount on Bristol pounds but then would convert back at a 1:1 rate.
The article seems to be a bit coy about this. It says that the notes
> can’t be swapped for cash at a bank
but doesn't, I guess, rule out other means of conversion.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Pretty sure this is completely incorrect. It's sterling just with a slightly different note design including the issuing bank name. It's accepted anywhere sterling is accepted - the only issue I've ever had is that English businesses may not have seen it before and are worried it's fake. Never had any refuse to accept it though.
I get a kick out of giving Northern Ireland notes to businesses over in England and watching them squirm about. You can see serious confusion as they look back and forth between the words "Pounds Sterling" and "Ireland". There's a look of "If i get a manager I'm going to look stupid, but if I don't, I might be in trouble for taking fake money". There is a large number of people in London that aren't quit convinced th…
Doesn't it seem like they should have allowed the various businesses to accept it, but then not allow them to convert the money out of Bristol Pounds? As their BP balances grow, they would be forced to figure out how to integrate more tightly into the local economy, no? Turning these big companies down seems counter-productive to the goal of keeping the money circulating locally.
You can't force it on businesses that way. It's a voluntary currency. If you make it hostile to businesses, they simply won't accept it. If you tried this, and somehow got businesses onboard, you might get some extra local economic activity. But mostly you'd just get unofficial currency exchanges popping up that buy Bristol Pounds for, e.g. 90 pence, and resell them to locals for 95 pence.
"One large supermarket chain and other high street retailers, as well as a budget airline, have asked to be included in the Bristol pound scheme but were turned down, he added."
If they voluntarily want to join, and they voluntarily run up large Bristol Pound balances, then they're going to have to voluntarily figure out what to do with that money in order to keep it in the local economy, since it "can't" be converted back into normal pounds.
The idea isn't that you're going to hold them at gunpoint and say "INTEGRATE WITH THE LOCAL ECONOMY OR ELSE!" it's that they're going to voluntarily accept the money (by being a part of the program) and then they're going to have to figure out how to recirculate those dollars in Bristol.
I'm not saying that I necessarily think this is a genius idea by any means, but if they're TRYING to be a part and being told "no", that seems contrary to the goal of "keeping money circulating in Bristol" and therefore I don't understand it.