While this book frequently references the Transitions movement (which may not be your framing) and the UK (which can be problematic when he’s talking about tax policy), it’s a good primer on alternative currencies. It starts with a history and concepts. Then it provides case examples from around the world, including what worked and didn’t. The following summary will give you a sense of the topics covered by the book and their appropriate use:
“We can see a LETS scheme or time bank being used for local production and exchange of things we can produce at home or in a local community—helping each other out; sharing food grown on allotments; renovating each other’s houses. More complex goods would be produced by local businesses, perhaps using a local or regional scrip or at a national level, a WIR-like scheme or a business-to-business exchange. More local production could be developed using local currency loans or through a local bank or financial vehicle. Special-purpose currencies could finance local food production and Community Supported Agriculture, and local power generation. Local bonds could finance a major renovation of our housing stock and a new green infrastructure to replace our out-of-date Victorian inheritance.” (p 219)
North, P. (2010). Local money: how to make it happen in your community. Totnes: Transition Books. ISBN-13: 978-1900322522
