This Boston Globe article: Innovative banks foster sense of community by tying 'dollars' to providing a service has introduced me to a new type of banking system - a time bank. With a time bank you spend an hour doing a service for someone and deposit that hour in the bank. You then have that dollar available to withdraw and spend having someone else perform a service for you. Unlike the monetary economy, which values a doctor's time more than a day-care worker's, in time banks the lawyer's hour equals the same time dollar as the laborer's. Unlike a barter economy of traded favors - the auto mechanic tunes up the car of the plumber who then fixes the mechanic's leaky sink - time bank members pay it forward. Unlike a traditional bank, time banks regularly schedule social events and, in more diverse communities, build bridges across racial and ethnic divides. To learn more about the Time Bank system and to see if one exists in your area, check out the Time Bank Directory. In Massachusetts the following Time Banks are listed:
Cape Ann Time Bank
Time Trade Circle
Lynn Time Bank
Somerville Senior CenterLabels: Boston Bargains, Solutions |
