Alternative Currencies

Via Oblomovka, here's an interview with Bernard Lietaer, on how the current money system isn't working and is causing a lot of political destabilization in third-world countries. He gives examples of how alternate currencies can solve social problems (e.g. care of the elderly), and bootstrap economies where regular money is scarce (e.g. ghettos and student communities).

There is typically a reluctance among friends to pay for help provided by using national currency. If a friend is helping you move or paint and you pay him with national currency, it just doesn't feel right... It turns out that dollar exchanges tend to be incompatible with a gift economy. Complementary currencies are.

This line of thought seems very relevant to the Open Source and Free Sofware communities. The idea is that conventional currencies encourage competition, while time-dollar currencies can encourage cooperation.