Local Currency (again)

"The Plenty", local currency in Pittsboro, NC, where
15,000 are in circulation. (The Abundance Foundation)

A while back, in one of my first posts, I blogged about why I think Detroit needs a local currency. Today, on one of the mailing lists I follow, someone forwarded an article from the LA Times, Local currencies cash in on recession. The article describes several examples in cities and towns across the U.S. (Ithaca, NY, Pittsboro, NC, Mesa, AZ, Portland, ME, and others). Overall, local currency can encourage local economies and increases social capital (social capital is basically the social connections between people that make collective and communal actions possible).

Protectionist that I am (free trade? That benefits whom exactly?), I really don't see a reason not to have local currency in Detroit. Though, unlike how it has been enacted in the article, I want the Detroit currency larger than a group of businesses banding together. I want to see the city itself involved.