I'm curious about how people plan to spend their economic stimulus check. Of course, I'm ignoring the larger question of whether this is good policy or not...

My plan is to put half towards energy efficiency improvements on my home and the other half on my mortgage.

Your thoughts?

The striking fall of the dollar against other world currencies (-27% against the Euro over the last 2 years) has prompted many to wonder if the long-predicted collapse of the US financial empire is at hand. Combined with the still-unfolding “sub-prime” mortgage crisis -- expected now to wipe as much $1 trillion off the world economic ledger, mostly from the accounts of the working class and poor -- the resulting global recession may ultimately run the economies of rising stars like China and the European Union off the rails.

Mainstream economists had largely been blind to the crisis until the symptoms became too obvious to ignore in the past 18 months or so. Those who study money systems -- including such notables as Bernard Leitaer, who designed the European monetary union -- have been warning about the dangers of a central-banking-induced monetary catastrophe for years.

Why the Exchange Medium Matters:

The Incompatibility of Central-bank Money with Global Economic Justice

Madison Hours Local Currency System is proud to count itself a member organization of the Madison Area Peace Coalition. We joined not only because war and militarism are antithetical to what local currency is about, but also to deliberately rebuke the popular notion that money is somehow a "neutral" entity, above the impassioned fray of politics and moral values.

Money's Neutrality

The need for Local Currency
Society is built around the inter-reliance of people on one another to provide the things we need in order to live; this most typically involves the exchange of goods and services. Money serves the purpose of facilitating these exchanges and both measuring and storing value, in order that the exchanges be accurate and fair.