I think it's 5 or 10 kilos of potatoes which happens to fit in a bucket. Apparently bottles of vodka used to be the currency, which makes sense I suppose. It's got near unlimited shelf life and is relatively easy to store with a range of uses and generally always in demand. Really petrol would be a good medium of exchange if you could transfer and store it easily. 50 years ago tobacco would have worked. I wonder if alternatives like barter card will make a comeback here if things go tits up?
... who rip you off, and bash the crap out of you if you refuse to participate in their rip-off scheme.
"local prosecutors and the Russian Central Bank have taken him to court to have the kolion declared illegal" http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-33024081 my emphasis in bold ...
Where have I seen that before... http://base.d-p-h.info/fr/fiches/dph/fiche-dph-7536.html http://www.lietaer.com/2010/03/the-worgl-experiment/
Yep that's why you can trade things just not convert them. Tangibles people tangibles, not paper... trade with silver, gold, potatoes, vodka, food, equipment, land etc. You can have an agreement on how much something is worth and peg your trading to that item or multiple items as a form of backing for each trade. This can set "value" to the system. Promissory notes are still permissible as far as I know. Having a system of promissory notes is another idea.
"The Emergency Banking Act (the official title of which was the Emergency Banking Relief Act), Public Law 1, 48 Stat. 1 (March 9, 1933), was an act passed by the United States Congress in 1933 in an attempt to stabilize the banking system." "In March 1933 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102 criminalizing the possession of monetary gold by any individual, partnership, association or corporation[7][8] and Congress passed a similar resolution in June 1933." "This act was a temporary response to a major problem. The 1933 Banking Act passed later that year presented elements of longer-term response, including formation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Banking_Act "According to the FDIC.gov website (as of March 2013), "FDIC deposit insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. This means that the resources of the United States government stand behind FDIC-insured depositors."[43] The statutory basis for this claim is less than clear. Congress, in 1987, passed a non-binding "Sense of Congress" to that effect,[44] but there appear to be no laws strictly binding the government to make good on any insurance liabilities unmet by the FDIC" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Deposit_Insurance_Corporation [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JjTFTv-xM[/youtube] my emphasis in bold ... the USA is now more than 19 trillion dollars in debt ...
Drinking the slop from rotting vegetables isn't doing us any favours .... but maybe used as a fuel booster will get us better mileage ....
Countries go to extreme lengths to protect their currencies. I like Gerald Celente "It's always about Oil , would we be in Iraq if the Export was Broccoli?" Although that being said I have watched a few economic truth docs about "local currencies" with mixed success. More money -> Cheaper Money -> Higher Real Assets