Banks do not create money for the public good. They are businesses owned by private shareholders. Their purpose is to make a profit.

Maybe you care deeply about the environment or other global issues, or you feel strongly about your local region or community, but you just don't see how local money can help. I hope that this pamphlet will show you connections between what you care about and 'the money problem'.

We can always create enough of our own local money to handle all the trades and exchanges we wish to make. While national currency basically drives, and is driven by profit, local money supports people with other values: people who believe in local diversity, mutual help, treating people as assets instead of problems, valuing all types of work, creating strong social networks and protecting the environment. It is these people, their values and commitment that make local money systems work.

The purpose of this pamphlet is to explain how local currencies work. Alone they cannot solve all the multiple financial, social and environmental crises we face, but they are an increasingly important part of the answer.