THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

to goods and services they might not otherwise be able to get hold
of.’
Geoff Mulgan, director of the Demos think tank, believes parallel
economies such as LETS could provide jobs for many people without
the skills or competence to participate in what he calls the moneybased
‘first-economy’. Moreover, they may turn out to fit better
within the culture of much of modern Britain and in particular the
culture of the young unemployed, than traditional solutions,’ Mulgan
says.
A group of dedicated volunteers were behind the remarkable
community "formation campaign which made the UK a fertile
ground for complementary currency efforts. In 1991, a group centred
around LETSLINK UK including Lit Shephard and Harry Turner,
were key agents in this process. Several innovations or expansions on
the original model resulted from all this, such as the increased
importance of the 'Directory of Wants and Offers', or new software
developments. The Schumacher Award for 'triumph of individual
effort' formally recognised all these efforts. The role of the New
Economics Foundation, a spin-off from The Other Economic Summit
(TOES) meetings should also be mentioned. Some specialised LETS
project have also been successfully developed around healthcare
issues (see sidebar).
The Minister for Social Security of the Conservative government,
Peter Baldwin, announced on December 8, 1993, that 'LETS type
credits will not be counted as income for the purpose of the Social
Security income test. LETS type schemes are a useful community
initiative which should not be artificially discouraged by Social
Security arrangements. I believe there is a strong case for giving
Social Security clients the flexibility to participate in such schemes. In
particular, LETS type schemes represent a form of activity that assists