I was there last night. At the launch you could buy L£22 for £20. Local traders are offering incentives, such as discounts if you pay in L£. It doesn't force

I was there last night. At the launch you could buy L£22 for £20. Local traders are offering incentives, such as discounts if you pay in L£. It doesn't force anyone to spend their money locally, because you can always trade your L£ for sterling. It's more like a constant reminder and a helpful system for keeping money in the local economy. Income in L£ is counted as sterling as far as the tax man is concerned. Stewart Wallis of the NEF mentioned a local currency scheme in Australia where the taxes could be paid in local currency. Of course when it came time to spend it it could only be spent locally. So they re-roofed the community centre. There's a web site here: http://www.thelewespound.org/ http://www.thelewespound.org/