Actually, it's unconstitutional because no state shall make any thing other than gold or silver coin tender in payment of debts, but that's neither here nor there.
Alternative currencies are common across the nation. I posted a few examples earlier in this thread - Ithaca Hours, Bay City Downtown Dollars, and my nearby city of Nashua has its own Downtown Dollars.
The idea is to keep value circulating in the community, instead of being hoovered up into international banks and stripped out of the community.
If the feds are taking the position that it's illegal to barter if shiny bits of gold or silver are involved, then they've bitten off quite a chunk for themselves.
Recently they tried to prosecute someone for tax evasion for paying their employees in the uncirculated coinage based on the government-approved face value. They can't seem to make up their minds, though I guess it's understandable because it's the government.
Yes they exist, and the federal government has the authority to regulate them. One of the articles even mentioned that the local government got explicit permission from the federal government before creating their own local currency.
Those local governments aren't trying to undermine that value of the dollar, and they even exchange their currency back for dollars. What they are really doing is creating a program where you get a discount, but only if you use "money" that is only good for local purchases, and their local money is actually worth less than a dollar.
However, since the government has the authority to regulate currency, they could tell those local governments to stop using their local currencies if they thought it had an adverse effect.
The idea is to keep value circulating in the community, instead of being hoovered up into international banks and stripped out of the community.
Exactly, and they reward people for doing so by giving them a discount because the local currency is worth a little less than a dollar.
If the feds are taking the position that it's illegal to barter if shiny bits of gold or silver are involved, then they've bitten off quite a chunk for themselves.
You can barter all you want. However, if you take those shiny bits of gold and silver and mint them into coins with values relative to each other, and try and get everyone else to use them you aren't simply bartering anymore. You've created a currency.
Recently they tried to prosecute someone for tax evasion for paying their employees in the uncirculated coinage based on the government-approved face value. They can't seem to make up their minds, though I guess it's understandable because it's the government.
LOL! Some people just can resist the urge to try and stir up trouble.
That's a pretty novel idea on the part of the employer. He may be following the letter of the law, but it isn't exactly what I would consider honest. I hadn't thought about using such coins as a way to under report the value of a transaction for tax purposes.