Spring Break
It's All About The BerkShares
Small Town Switches To Local Currency System To Control Economy
Aaron Boyd
Issue date: 12/5/07 Section: News
The economic theory behind BerkShares and the Schumacher Society comes from "Small is Beautiful," a collection of essays by E. F. Schumacher on the need to balance big economics with the small. Schumacher believed that a strong economy was not about consumption or gross national product (GNP), but about the development of stable economies that focus on the individual as a part of the community.
Using a local currency means buying from local sources. Since BerkShares can only be spent in the Berkshire region, use of the currency keeps business in the hands of local merchants, not national chains.
Witt wants to make it clear that the BerkShare is more than a coupon. BerkShare bucks have the quality and value of more formal currencies and, unlike coupons, are redeemable for cash in full.
That's because it is cash, plus the 10 percent discount. For instance: A cappuccino at Fuel coffee shop on Main St. in Great Barrington costs about $3. Across the street is the Great Barrington branch of Lee Bank, where $27 can be exchanged for 30 BerkShare dollars. Back at Fuel that cappuccino will still cost 3 BerkShares, leaving 27 BerkShares, which, if spent instead of exchanged, will yield a 10 percent discount.
Some local merchants, like Adrienne Redstone-Cohen, co-owner of Crystal Essence of Great Barrington, opt to take part of their pay in BerkShare dollars. They then spend them like federal dollars in other local stores, such as Berkshire Co-op Market, a cooperative organic foods store just off Main St. in Great Barrington.
While store owners may be willing to take the BerkShares, most employees are not.
"Landlords don't take them, electric company won't, so they can't pay their workers in them," said Michelle DiSimone, operating manager in charge of BerkShares at the Co-op Market. After taking in 60,000 BerkShares, the Co-op Market had to limit their use to half of each purchase.
Using a local currency means buying from local sources. Since BerkShares can only be spent in the Berkshire region, use of the currency keeps business in the hands of local merchants, not national chains.
Witt wants to make it clear that the BerkShare is more than a coupon. BerkShare bucks have the quality and value of more formal currencies and, unlike coupons, are redeemable for cash in full.
That's because it is cash, plus the 10 percent discount. For instance: A cappuccino at Fuel coffee shop on Main St. in Great Barrington costs about $3. Across the street is the Great Barrington branch of Lee Bank, where $27 can be exchanged for 30 BerkShare dollars. Back at Fuel that cappuccino will still cost 3 BerkShares, leaving 27 BerkShares, which, if spent instead of exchanged, will yield a 10 percent discount.
Some local merchants, like Adrienne Redstone-Cohen, co-owner of Crystal Essence of Great Barrington, opt to take part of their pay in BerkShare dollars. They then spend them like federal dollars in other local stores, such as Berkshire Co-op Market, a cooperative organic foods store just off Main St. in Great Barrington.
While store owners may be willing to take the BerkShares, most employees are not.
"Landlords don't take them, electric company won't, so they can't pay their workers in them," said Michelle DiSimone, operating manager in charge of BerkShares at the Co-op Market. After taking in 60,000 BerkShares, the Co-op Market had to limit their use to half of each purchase.
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