Frankfurt is the European capitol of finance, therefore you should all be rich. Frankfurt-based Deutsche Börse will soon purchase the New York Stock Exchange. So everyone here should have no financial problems. There should be enough money for all your needs. But perhaps you know someone here who has not enough money. Perhaps they are an artist, since most artists typically have not enough money. And many artists have little business sense ...

Even so, because artists are cultural leaders they can become financial leaders. That’s because money is primarily a cultural product. Money often takes the form of official-looking pieces of paper designed by artists. And the credibility of any money depends on cultural messages that validate the institutions claiming power over commerce. So artists can create their own money. And it will not be monopoly money. It will be anti-monopoly money. It will be real money to the extent people trade with it.

Paul Glover is the founder of Ithaca HOURS local currency and author of Hometown Money. He is founder of several other mutual-aid systems for food, fuel, housing, health care.