Local currencies sound like a good way to keep the money local. In the United Kingdom, however, many that emerged with great expectations have called it quits, in large part because they haven’t kept up with digital payment developments.
But some, like the Bristol Pound in England and the Calgary Dollar in Canada, are.
There are, or have been, more local currencies in the world than we realize — 3,500 to 4,500 such systems in 50 countries in the last few decades — and if the pandemic lingers, those numbers will probably escalate.
