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I always get left behind, been exchanging labour for labour for a couple of years now, but was thinking about how to form some sort of more exchangeable currency. Only found this last night, 2 years after the fact, as usual. Seems to be nice and simple to administer and perfectly workable. Is anyone already using it?

"The concept ‘Minuto Time Voucher', called Minuto, is based on the possibility that everybody can issue his or her own means of payment. Minutos, which are used similarly to cash, are a truly decentralized means of payment.

Usually people work and get paid for it after that. But where does the money really come from? Interestingly, money is being created through debt. The centrally managed public debt of the conventional system has grown to reach astronomic numbers. In contrast to that Minuto Vouchers are local self-made vouchers with a limited thus accountable promise to perform a certain service.

The name Minutos is based on the minutes of high quality work that are being used as units of payment for the exchange of goods and services. One hour of quality work is worth 60 Minutos. Since one hour of quality work in Germany costs – on average – about 30 Euros, the present “exchange rate” is 60 Minutos = 30 Euros (August 2010).

Since Minutos can be considered to be totally inflation free, as an hour is an hour today, tomorrow and in a hundred years from now, the prices for goods and services in Minutos will not have to be adjusted, for instance, if the conventional currency should go into hyperinflation. In a case like that, what needs to be adjusted is the equivalent in conventional money. Minutos (as the more stable means of payment) would be the equivalent of a higher amount of (more worthless) Euros".

I know about the various local currencies, Regio, some Transition currencies etc, but this seems to be the most simple. Reckon if lot's of Transition Initiatives, Local Groups etc settled on it as a standard, we could soon be trading between groups, making it even more useful.

With regard to exchanging it for current currency, 60 Minutos would be worth a median, or average, of some sort between the lowest and highest hourly wage. In 2012 E.U. they settled on a value of 30 Euro's, but that rate would change with regard to the bankers currency fluctuations, while the Minuto will always have the same value.

Any suggestions on how to calculate a reasonable exchange rate for the Pound? Obviously the value of a good in Minuto's is a simple calculation of the time taken to create that product - not a direct exchange rate between the Pound and Minuto. It comes a bit unstuck when having to buy materials in Pounds in order to make the product, but am sure that will resolve itself as the Minuto becomes more widely accepted.

I already have a problem, one of the people I do work for want to "pay" me 12 quid an hour, but they want 25 quid an hour when they do work for others! The first bloke I spoke to was quite happy to use Minuto, but immediately wanted to "pay" me 60 Minuto for 2 hours work, but would only give back 1 hours work for my 60 Minuto note!!! All fall down

Have already made my Minutos, so now will try to use them instead of just keeping "hours" recorded in a book.

http://occupyconcepts.org/wiki/Minuto_Currency

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU8OCx_MO4E

Minutos are a promise to pay hours of work. In other words, they are a debt obligation. An example of the above would be the promise to pay one pound of sterling silver should the holder of such a promissory note take it to their nearest silver/goldsmith.

So minutos are simply a commodity backed unit of exchange. In which case, why not simply use something more tangible like gold as the commodity.

The reason I say the above is because different work done by different people will be of different quality. thus, people will be reluctant to be paid for their services in minutos from unknown sources. In which case, there will be internal exchange rates within the minuto monetary system that will be logistically incredibly difficult to manage and track. This may mean that they end up amounting to little more than a system of debt obligations owed between individuals in small close knit communities. In which case, trying to formally monetise such a simple system of promises seems overly elaborate.

If, however, minutos somehow manage to overcome the above issues and were to take off, then either:

they would be co-opted into the state system and would lose their intended utility

or:

men with guns, acting on behalf of the state, would shut minutos down.

Heheh, I reckon if more than 5 people start using it, your second option is a virtual certainty!

Just as a matter of interest, how does one quantify the "quality" of work? Closest I can get is that one is only paid for the time spent actually doing the work - high quality work - as opposed to spending half the time asleep in the back stairwell - low quality work.

I don't believe that anyone's work is more "valuable" than another s - a plumbers work is no less valuable than a surgeons. However, the surgeon has indeed spent many years learning his trade as opposed to the bloke digging a hole. To recompense this, I would suggest the surgeon charges double time for an equal number of years he spent learning, there-after he reverts to normal rates.

Regarding complexity, I tried reading Marx's explanation of money, sterling, silver, gold, all transactions are both buyer and seller etc etc, I had no chance whatsoever of getting my head around it - perhaps a few years of taking it sentence by sentence I might see a small light shining far, far away, but right now am as much in the dark as before I started.

Nah, just fried me own brain.......can't see any possible way of marrying up human labour, "free" energy, Ie energy from another source which is not derived from human labour, and innovation in a way that can be fair and just to all, without rules and control from some central power which has the authority to impose penalties. The only way I can see something working is if the free energy and innovation doesn't exist and we all stay in the stone age for ever - much like every other species on the planet.

Methinks am gonna give up on this - my brain hurts.....

I don't believe that anyone's work is more "valuable" than another s - a plumbers work is no less valuable than a surgeons. However, the surgeon has indeed spent many years learning his trade as opposed to the bloke digging a hole. To recompense this, I would suggest the surgeon charges double time for an equal number of years he spent learning, there-after he reverts to normal rates.

But what about the difference between a good plumber and a rubbish plumber? Surely an hour of a good plumber's time is worth more than an hour of a rubbish plumber's?

A rubbish plumber has a negative value per hour. I know from experience