 Which of these is most true?
New money: Do local currencies actually work? "We would be Glasgow-centric about it," he says conspiratorially, as though there is any other way to be. Or Alex Ferguson, or Kenny Dalglish?" It might never have occurred to many of us that there are other types of exchange that can stand in for ragged bank notes tucked away in pockets, or other objects that can stand in for those notes. Not every country is so lucky. Hoarders woke up to discover the banknotes under their mattresses were suddenly worthless. Timebanks, local exchange trading systems (LETS) and digital inventions like bitcoin can provide alternative ways for people to pay for goods and services when mainstream currencies hit crises. But they will only work if Britons are ready to accept that they have the power to invent their own currency. It's an idea he no longer thinks will work, because the debate, since Brexit, has shifted from the currency issue back to ideas about Scottish independence. Everyone has gathered to decide what a Glasgow Pound might look like at a time when many are asking if local currencies can work at all. So they printed a currency that would have the same value as the pound, but could only be traded in independent Brixton shops, where the shopkeeper would also have to spend it locally. No two local currencies are exactly the same. As fears for financial stability took hold during the recession, complementary currencies grew in popularity. The Bank of England does not consider these forms of currency legal tender, but the notes hold value in the same way as a gift-card from a department store, with the same kind of restrictions about where they can be spent. Proponents say complementary currencies boost spending in smaller geographical areas, which can have environmental benefits as businesses cut transport distances to deal with local suppliers. In Britain, there are now schemes in Totnes, Lewes, Brixton, Bristol and Exeter. Kingston, Birmingham and Liverpool have schemes underway. But the working group has some serious questions to answer first, not least: do complementary currencies actually work? Scott Cato says the fish-in-water problem – the idea that sterling is so ubiquitous, it is never questioned – is the biggest challenge for complementary currencies. She knows all about it as a founder of the Stroud Pound in 2010, a currency that has since gone out of circulation. "[People] think they put money into a bank and someone else takes it out. What they don't understand is that banks have the power to create money.
 Success of these currencies can be loosely predicted based on the relative wealth of an area
 Local currencies as complementary systems will never be sustainable in the UK  People developing these currencies are looking to exhibit control over small populations of people  Bitcoin is likely going to replace these local currencies as the alternative currency  Success of these currencies can be loosely predicted based on the relative wealth of an area