It’s a long story, but the short version is that the foundational writings by Joel Hodroff, the Minnesota inventor, date back to 1989-91. Here is a 2007 white paper from just before the 2008 housing market crash. It precedes the rise of the Sharing Economy, mobile apps and social media, dual-currency pricing (now popular in the loyalty rewards industry), cryptocurrencies, and many other technologies and business practices that make introduction of the innovation relatively easy and straightforward today. Joel jokes that we are playing for a 25-year overnight success story and are only a couple of years behind schedule. (1997 US Patent)

Ledger Dollars provide a supplemental form of purchasing power and a profit motive in US$ to raise up individuals, families and communities by stretching traditional dollar financial resources rather than competing with dollars. It is a business innovation that encourages cooperation when competition over money is wasting precious productive capacity. CL$ offer a new twist on loyalty reward programs with rewards for far more than consumer spending. This creates a more level playing field, rather than giving the most rewards to those with the most spending power. CL$ use people+planet-centered design to balance the money-centered design of current economics. Every advance in technology, infrastructure, or human skill and creativity can raise everyone up together. Lastly, respect is a cornerstone of the system, honoring everyone’s religious and spiritual beliefs to elevate the values of love and human solidarity across the globe.

The 21st century is an era of governance by protocol. Many organizations, from local-to-global, run smoothly by design and not by traditional management. By maximizing cooperation, this approach serves all stakeholders equitably and sidesteps politics, special interests, and breakdowns. Examples of governance by protocol include the Internet (high tech), Visa (financial services) and the 12 Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous (a spiritually-based, people helping people fellowship that espouses that “Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.”). Visa demonstrates the power of cooperative industry associations. Before Visa, every bank had their own credit card system that were all failing. Bank of America gave up its “top issuer” status to create a cooperative banking network operated by protocol.

That depends entirely on how much business, community, and government participation can be mobilized. 10 years ago, when mobile apps and social media had a fraction of today’s market penetration, the Sharing Economy created millions of jobs and billions of dollars in new wealth in a matter of a few years using only a tiny fraction of society’s excess productive capacity (an empty room or home; an idle car).

No one knows until the IRS makes a ruling. While barter dollars are taxed as commercial transactions, Time Dollars are not taxed as they are a form of noncommercial community economic cooperation. Also, the common use of excess business capacity for both loyalty rewards and employee benefits (free or discount flights for airline employees, or memberships for fitness club employees, etc.) are generally not taxed.

Exactly the opposite. CL$ stretch US$ purchasing power but don’t replace it. Every participant in the CL$ Network still provides a source for the cash side of their purchases, which could be a checking account, credit card, debit card, PayPal account, etc. Banks can offer a valuable new program to both merchants and account holders. As well, Ledger Dollars economics and commerce provides a long sought after method of helping banks to engage and serve unbanked and underbanked people with both financial literacy programs and also much needed additional purchasing power.

CL$ are distributed equally—as a social safety net for all who participate—and additionally for contributing to personal development and additional community value. While this may sound like various proposals for a Universal Basic Income, it is 100% voluntary, with no tax burden on anyone. Disparities can now be closed out of business excess capacity at the marginal cost of production which is the basis for virtually all discounts, employee benefits, business bartering, loyalty rewards, in-kind contributions, and so forth. Communities can design their own projects for which CL$ can be earned. All the new purchasing power comes out of excess productive capacity w/o traditional economic growth, which supports the rise of a circular economy.

Discounting is a competitive weapon to win dollar-based market share. Ledger Dollar dual currency pricing is a way to monetize excess productive capacity and distribute additional purchasing power. Discounting can put downward pressure on business profits and employee compensation, even as productivity is rising through advances in technology. C$D can increase everyone’s purchasing power. Dual currency commerce is a new tool to help with jobs that are lost to downsizing, offshoring, automation, or even a economic downturns. Since what is lost is paychecks, not technology, infrastructure, or human skills, there is now a form of purchasing power to distribute the goods and services that people need. This can also be a tool to support people and communities in making smooth transition to new industries and new jobs.

Through the economic governance protocol, sophisticated algorithms match available capacity to unmet need. The number of C$D grows with the volume of underutilized business capacity that is turned into consumable goods and services. [Look back to the early days of the Internet or later e-commerce to see how issues get solved in practice over time as new industries grow and mature.] C$D are simple ledger entries that are issued, redeemed, and then taken off the books like loyalty rewards. They do not circulate, so they cannot be objects of speculation like US$ and cryptocurrencies. Global corporations run smoothly with electronic accounting ledgers as does the global Visa system. Because there are no circulating tokens, dual currency commerce may one day help to address economic cycles such as inflation, recession, economic downturns, and stock market crashes.

The Dual Currency Network has devised a new stakeholder role termed Sponsors because everyone earns money or spends time inside of existing social ecosystems. Sponsors aggregate and report the contributions of their constituents so that we don’t need to reinvent any wheels. Employers sponsor employees; community organizations sponsor volunteers; schools sponsor students; the government sponsors social security and welfare recipients; healthcare systems sponsor patients and so forth.

Innovations enter the market and scale, today, through Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) and early adopters, as described in the book The Lean Startup by Eric Reis. This effort could go viral as a mass mobilization of public cooperation, which is very different from everyday staff-driven organizational efforts where community members are passive consumers of products and services.

Because the system is market-based, nonpolitical, voluntary (not government mandated), and self-funding—benefitting all business and community stakeholders—we hope to unite all people of good will behind a campaign for sustainable and equitable community economic development.