IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v42y2010i6p1346-1364.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can a Community Currency be Independent of the State Currency? A Case Study of the Credito in Argentina (1995–2008)

Author

Listed:
  • Pepita Ould-Ahmed

    (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, IEDES—Université Paris 1, Campus du Jardin Tropical de Paris, 45 bis, Avenue de la Belle Gabrielle, 94736 Nogent-sur-Marne, France)

Abstract

This paper examines an example of a community currency system, the Argentine ‘barter clubs' developed from 1995. The term ‘barter club’ denotes a place of market exchange, within which economic transactions are paid for using an internal paper currency, the credito , issued by the founders of these clubs and not convertible to the official currency. The author's starting point is to wonder whether this micromonetary system could operate in an insular and independent manner, or if it was necessary to establish some kind of relation with the official macromonetary system. This was investigated by: an analysis of the discourses expressed by the key actors involved in ‘barter clubs’; a field survey conducted in a score of clubs in the province of Buenos Aires, and a case study of one of these; and comparing these results and conclusions with those of other researchers obtained at different times and in different places across the whole of Argentina. It was found that despite the barter club founders' desire to create an independent monetary system, the community currency owes its conditions of existence and acceptance to the official currency. The micromonetary credito system is fundamentally tied to the official macromonetary peso system.

Suggested Citation

  • Pepita Ould-Ahmed, 2010. "Can a Community Currency be Independent of the State Currency? A Case Study of the Credito in Argentina (1995–2008)," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(6), pages 1346-1364, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:6:p:1346-1364
    DOI: 10.1068/a4270
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a4270
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a4270?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galiani, Sebastian & Sanguinetti, Pablo, 2003. "The impact of trade liberalization on wage inequality: evidence from Argentina," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 497-513, December.
    2. Ana Corbacho & Mercedes Garcia‐Escribano & Gabriela Inchauste, 2007. "Argentina: Macroeconomic Crisis and Household Vulnerability," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 92-106, February.
    3. Emanuela Galasso & Martin Ravallion, 2004. "Social Protection in a Crisis: Argentina's Plan Jefes y Jefas," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 18(3), pages 367-399.
    4. Powell, J., 2002. "Petty capitalism, perfecting capitalism or post-capitalism? : lessons from the Argentinian barter network," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19101, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    5. R Lee, 1996. "Moral Money? LETS and the Social Construction of Local Economic Geographies in Southeast England," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 28(8), pages 1377-1394, August.
    6. Pepita Ould-Ahmed, 2003. "Barter hysteresis in post-Soviet Russia: an institutional and Post Keynesian perspective," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 95-116.
    7. Knapp, Georg Friedrich, 1924. "The State Theory of Money," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number knapp1924.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ana Iturriza & Arjun S. Bedi & Robert Sparrow, 2011. "Unemployment Assistance and Transition to Employment in Argentina," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 811-837.
    2. Georgina M Gómez, 2010. "What was the Deal for the Participants of the Argentine Local Currency Systems, the Redes de Trueque?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(7), pages 1669-1685, July.
    3. David Grover, 2006. "Would Local Currencies Make a Good Local Economic Development Policy Tool? The Case of Ithaca Hours," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 24(5), pages 719-737, October.
    4. Ould-Ahmed, Pepita, 2010. "Les « clubs de troc » argentins : un microcosme monétaire Credito dépendant du macrocosme Peso," Revue de la Régulation - Capitalisme, institutions, pouvoirs, Association Recherche et Régulation, vol. 7.
    5. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/4vc7skecu3q7u7s984pi2eaan is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Galiani, Sebastian & Lamarche, Carlos & Porto, Alberto & Sosa-Escudero, Walter, 2005. "Persistence and regional disparities in unemployment (Argentina 1980-1997)," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 375-394, July.
    7. Nathalie Chusseau & Joël Hellier, 2012. "Globalisation and Inequality: Where do we stand?," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 21(3-4), pages 7-34, November.
    8. Jules Gazeaud & Victor Stephane, 2023. "Productive Workfare? Evidence from Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(1), pages 265-290, January.
    9. Nora Lustig & Carola Pessino, 2013. "Social spending and income redistribution in Argentina during the 2000s: The rising noncontributory pensions," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 05, Tulane University, Department of Economics, revised Aug 2013.
    10. Marina Bassi & Matías Busso & Sergio Urzúa & Jaime Vargas, 2012. "Disconnected: Skills, Education, and Employment in Latin America," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 79504, February.
    11. Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Sparrow, Robert, 2015. "Poverty, labor markets and trade liberalization in Indonesia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 94-106.
    12. Martin Watts & Timothy Sharpe & James Juniper, 2014. "Reformation or exodus: Assessing the future of the Euro," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 25(3), pages 465-483, September.
    13. Jörg Bibow, 2013. "Lost at Sea: The Euro Needs a Euro Treasury," IMK Studies 35-2013, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    14. Bruno Funchal & Jandir Soares Junior, 2013. "Understanding demand for skylls after technological trade liberalization," Fucape Working Papers 40, Fucape Business School.
    15. L. Randall Wray, 2012. "Keynes after 75 Years: Rethinking Money as a Public Monopoly," Chapters, in: Thomas Cate (ed.), Keynes’s General Theory, chapter 15, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Pavlina R. Tcherneva, 2008. "The Return of Fiscal Policy: Can the New Developments in the New Economic Consensus Be Reconciled with the Post-Keynesian View?," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_539, Levy Economics Institute.
    17. R K O'Doherty & J Dürrschmidt & P Jowers & D A Purdue, 1999. "Local Exchange and Trading Schemes: A Useful Strand of Community Economic Development Policy?," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 31(9), pages 1639-1653, September.
    18. Tommaso Brollo, 2019. "Money as a political institution in the commentaries of Albert the Great and Thomas Aquinas to Aristotle?s "Ethica Nicomachea"," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 8(2), pages 35-61.
    19. Eduardo Lora & Johanna Fajardo-González, 2016. "Employment and taxes in Latin America: An empirical study of the effects of payroll, corporate income and value-added taxes on labor outcomes," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 35(Especial ), pages 75-117, January.
    20. Phil Armstrong, 2020. "Can Heterodox Economics Make a Difference?," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 19964.
    21. Éric Tymoigne, 2003. "Keynes and Commons on Money," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 527-545, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:6:p:1346-1364. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.