On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 9:45 PM, Buddha Buck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 9:36 PM, Nick Vanderweit <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Well here's an idea. We could use a linear currency, with colors >> representing place values. For example, we could go ROYGBIV for the >> values of the currencies, with a violet unit being worth 10^6 times as >> much as a red one. I know how much Agorans like colors. > > It sounds like coinage to me. Coins of different color having > different value. That sounds like an interesting idea. > >> Alice has 300 units of (linear) currency. Therefore her worth is three >> yellows. Bob has 53, and therefore has five orange [whatever we'll >> call the currency]s and three reds, which can be transferred by naming >> them as such. Alice sends Bob one yellow and five oranges. Bob now has >> two yellows and three reds. > > I thought Alice had 3Y. How did she transfer 5O to Bob? She doesn't > have 5O, just 3Y. And if she were able to transfer 1Y5O to Bob, how > does he have 2Y3R instead of 1Y10O3R? Well, the way I was thinking is, 3Y is interchangeable with 30O, so there's no exchange that needs to happen. But if you're thinking of a Bank institution, then I do see the point of keeping the colors. See my comments below. >> >> Hell, I'm just throwing out ideas. We could go with just an ordinary >> currency. I just want *something*, and something interesting is >> preferable. > > My observation is that currently currencies are not interesting > because there is nothing to do with them. There is not much to > exchange, so there is very little interest in a medium of exchange. > > But here's the outline of a potentially interesting currency idea: > > A bunch of "coins", of different but fixed value, which users are > required to treat as interchangeable at par value (e.g., using the > above ROYGBIV coinage, a request for 4G2Y may be fulfilled by a > transfer of 3G10Y200R). There is a "Bank" (or some other term, as > that's in use) which will "make change" as requested for a small > seignorage fee. The "Bank" acts as a deposit institution, and > distributes its fees to its depositors in proportion to their > accounts. > > The above would work well if there was some way to get coins to > deposit or something which needs a medium of exchange. >> >> avpx >> >
I actually rather like this Bank idea. So, if Alice and Bob deposit 3G each, and then Carol makes change for 2Y with a 1% fee, then she may request 19O and 8R, and the remaining 2R would go to Alice and Bob, with each receiving 1R off of the transaction. *However*, I don't see how this would stimulate the economy. It seems like people would just put all of their money in banks and try not to spend it so that it would grow, and, while in the real world banks serve to give loans for higher interest than they pay for a savings account, I'm not sure that would work out here. So, I'm torn between this and a simple numerical system with a transfer tax. Thoughts? avpx
