Time Dollars: The New Currency That Enables Americans to Turn Their Hidden Resource-Time-Into Personal Security and Community Renewal

A bold new idea that shows how money has undermined our culture, and how the new currency of "Time Dollars"--now being used in many communities--can restore our fiscal and moral health. Cahn and Rowe offer a step-by-step plan to establish a "Time Dollars Program" in every city and town and explain how this plan would foster a return to old-fashioned values. National tour.

``A retired secretary types poetry written by a neighbor with multiple sclerosis, and the neighbor repays her by reading the newspaper to the secretary's blind daughter. Elsewhere, a retired teacher tutors a 12-year-old boy in English and he mows her lawn periodically.'' Those are just two of the many ways in which Cahn, an attorney, and Rowe, a writer for The Christian Science Monitor, envision ``Time Dollars''--units of service-oriented barter currency--working to foster mutual aid within communities. The Time Dollars program, which the authors see as a complement to, and not competitor with, the money-powered general economy, is already in place in various communities and organizations in San Antonio, Florida, Hawaii, and elsewhere. Elegantly simple in conception-- help others with, say, two hours of service and you've got two Time Dollars that you can spend for two hours of service by others for you--the program, the authors believe, has the potential to significantly improve many Americans' lives. Strong arguments to back up this belief (e.g., that Time Dollars allow the elderly to contribute to society) are included here, as well as provocative proposals for specific Time Dollar applications (e.g., as a student-aid/loan forgiveness program), and, thankfully, clear and detailed instructions on how to set up a Time Dollar program in your organization or community. A potentially life-changing book, then, with an exciting promise well worth checking out. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

According to attorney Cahn and journalist Rowe, the concept of "Time Dollars," a system for managing the sharing of people's various capabilities and other than financially based resources, has successfully "caught on" in over 80 U.S. communities. As an "economic" system, Time Dollars stresses doing over buying, commitments of time and energy in lieu of dollars. The authors use many real-life examples to demonstrate Time Dollars's eminent practicality in delivering "goods" and services as well as its capability to foment trust and connections between individuals and to support and strengthen community institutions. The final chapters detail the mechanics of starting and running a T.D. program: identifying needs, establishing procedures, and much much more. Recommended for professionals and broad public attention.
- Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll . of Technology, Alfred
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.