What If Your Town Printed Its Own Money — And It Actually Worked?
In 1991, as the U.S. economy stumbled through recession, a community organizer in Ithaca, New York did something radical: he printed money. Not counterfeit dollars — something more interesting. A labor-backed local currency called Ithaca HOURS, where one note equaled one hour of work, equaled ten dollars, and could only be spent right here in town.
For more than two decades, it worked.
In this episode, Dia sits down with Steve Burke, former president and board member of Ithaca HOURS, for an honest, detailed account of what happened.
The Problem Ithaca HOURS Was Built to Solve
Ithaca in the early 1990s was a town of wage struggle and economic anxiety. Workers were paid too little. Dollars flowed in, then immediately flowed out to distant corporations. Local businesses competed against national chains with no structural advantage.
Paul Glover, the currency's founder, understood that money is not inherently valuable. It is valuable because a community agrees it is. If a community could agree to believe in something new, and back it with real labor and goods, they could create economic gravity that kept wealth local.
That insight became Ithaca HOURS.
How You Build Trust in a Currency From Scratch
Steve walks us through the unglamorous, essential work of building belief: community meetings, early adopter lists, handshake agreements with local businesses, and the slow accumulation of a directory that proved the currency could actually be spent.
At its peak, over 500 businesses and thousands of individuals participated. HOURS funded loans to local entrepreneurs and grants to nonprofits. Music stores, bookshops, farmers, landlords, healers, and carpenters all joined the network.
Why It Declined — And What Actually Killed It
The decline of Ithaca HOURS wasn't a single failure, it was a collision of forces: the rise of credit cards (which made cash-adjacent systems feel clunky), the shift to online commerce (which rewarded national platforms over neighborhood networks), Paul Glover's eventual departure from Ithaca, and the organization's inability to transition from paper to a digital infrastructure.
By 2015, Ithaca HOURS had wound down.
The Questions This Episode Leaves You With
Could it happen again? Steve thinks yes — but differently. Dia suggests perhaps a digital local currency with modern infrastructure, institutional backing, and a clear circulation strategy could address the structural weaknesses that paper HOURS couldn't.
Steve raises something worth sitting with: as electronic currencies become more prevalent, the question of transparency and government oversight becomes urgent. Who controls the black box? Who audits the ledger? Community currencies of the future will have to answer those questions before they launch, not after.
What You'll Take Away
This conversation is part history lesson, part governance case study, part meditation on what money is really for. Whether you're curious about local economics, community resilience, alternative finance, or just a great Ithaca story — this episode delivers.
🔗 Resources
- Ithaca HOURS Archive
- Alternatives Federal Credit Union
- BerkShares — Local Currency in Massachusetts
Ithaca Local Economy Lab is a podcast about the people, models, and ideas building a more resilient local economy — one conversation at a time.
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