THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

year, or if the exchange occurs in the normal professional activity of
the person (as we saw in the UK).
WIR
'WIR' is a Swiss example of a complementary currency run by and
for a community of individuals and small business people. It is
interesting for three reasons. First, it is the oldest continuous system
in the modern Western world. It was founded in 1934 by 16 members
in Zurich, and has continuously grown in both number of
participants and volume of business for over 60 years. Second, it
illustrates that complementary currencies make sense, even in the
most conservative and hard-nosed capitalist country with one of the
highest standards of living in the world. Finally, it is a system, which
has grown to a respectable size. In 1994, on the sixtieth anniversary of
the WIR system, annual volume reached 2.5 billion Swiss francs (i.e.,
over two billion dollars). Its 80,000 members come from all areas of
the country. It operates in four languages and owns its own bank
building, as well as six impressive regional offices.
'WIR' is an abbreviation of Wirtschaftsring-Genossenschaft (roughly
translated as 'Economic Mutual Support Circle'), and also means the
pronoun 'We' in German.
Two of its key-founding members Werner Zimmerman and Paul
Enz - were true visionaries for their time (see sidebar).
There are two ways by which a member can obtain WIR: either by
selling goods or services to someone else in the circle, or by obtaining
a WIR credit from the co-ordinating centre. In other words, the WIR
is a hybrid of mutual credit (whenever trading occurs by selling
goods directly) and fiat currency (whenever a loan is made from the
centre). Such credit has a very low interest rate (1.75% per annum). In
practice, these credits are often guaranteed by real estate or another