Communities print own currencies to keep cash flowing [USA Today]

[Acrylicist]

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing
their own money.
Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help
consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form
a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95
cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept
the currency.

Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes
and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in
North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.

Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied
local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally.
Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending,
benefit as consumers spend the local cash.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-04-05-scrip_N.htm?loc=interstitialskip