Abstract
The financial crisis of 2008 has not only shaken the financial markets but also undermined basic pillars of developed globalized society. Some economists talk about a coming era of deglobalisation, others about „relocalisaton of economy“. Voices questioning the growth of GDP as a tool for solving socio-economic problems became more significant. Liquidity is shifted from the real economy to speculative sector of the financial markets, leading to inflation of the prices of financial assets and on the other hand, the lack of liquidity in the real economy leads to the strengthening importance of alternative means of exchange and to international and local spread of barter trade. There is a trend in development of local monetary systems with elements of regional protectionism. At the time of rapidly developing automation, government maintains employment only through the unproductive state sector financed by large government deficits. The unsustainably growing indebtedness in private, corporate and state level is obvious and apparently the future will bring significant changes in the economic, political and social setting of the society. The aim of the article is to describe the economic and social importance of local currencies in today's rapidly changing society. Keywords: local currency; crisis, relocalisation
Highlights
In a situation, where basically all developed democratic societies have ended up with unpayable debts in all sectors of the economy; there is a trend of developing local currency systems
In the background of this stalemate, major changes in the structure of the real economy driven by technological advances have been going on
The history shows that the creation of alternative systems of exchange is a natural means of protection against crisis
Summary
In a situation, where basically all developed democratic societies have ended up with unpayable debts in all sectors of the economy; there is a trend of developing local currency systems. Crisis solution consisting of ongoing efforts to promote economic growth seems to be unworkable and, does not solve the problem itself, but merely puts off the consequences (Bodorova, 2011). There are liberal theories, which propose letting the solving process to the market forces. Nobody would like to bear the negative impact on the general population that such approach would mean for the society, so this approach is politically unacceptable and in terms of human values is hardly justifiable. The aim of the article is to clarify the role of local currencies in the current situation of developed economies
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