We are emerging from lockdown into a different world and a different economy. One in which continued growth is not one that is sustainable. Those welded to classical economic theory should not panic because communities and wealth can continue to grow, it simply means that we become more efficient with what we have at our disposal. It means we need to grow more food, create more, repair and recycle more, generate more local power and encourage more local procurement by the major anchor institutions within the borough.
The Pandemic has exposed globalisation and the ‘just in time’ delivery systems and will encourage a ‘just in case’ system with more local logistic storage and local manufacture. (source: https://www.ruffer.co.uk/investmentreview-Q2-2020)
And then we have money, when was the last time you use cash? and did you know that every time you swipe your Visa card it costs your local business somewhere in the region of 1.75% to 2%? Where do the profits from these clever payment systems go? One thing is for sure, they do not stay within our community. Money has to be considered as part of a newly shaped national and local economy.
A local currency such as The Kingston Pound (essentially tagged Sterling with equivalent £’s held in Boom Credit Union) encourages more efficient use of money as it bounces around the borough between our great local businesses. We essentially squeeze more value from it and delay its departure into the wider economy. What is the cost of this system? The answer is 1% (sometimes half that of other payment systems) and this goes to a local charity (Love Kingston). The Kingston Pound Project has developed within the local economy and is not backed by any outside company whose purpose would be to suck wealth from our borough. Essentially, when you spend Kingston Pounds with local businesses you are investing in your own town in a unique measurable way and you will be contributing to the long-term sustainability of the Borough of Kingston. Sign up now, be part of the solution and help the borough recover with each pound spent www.kingstonpound.org
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