| Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision |
| c:lets [2026/10/15 14:14] – [Related terms and definitions] Simon Grant | c:lets [2026/10/15 18:07] (current) – [The variety of definitions] John Waters |
|---|
| **NB, this page is still under construction** | **NB, this page is still under construction** |
| |
| The term //LETS// is used to refer to a zero-sum, interest-free, mutual-commitment/-credit community currency system. //LETS// is often used as an acronym for //Local Exchange Trading System// or //Local Energy Transfer System//. | The term //LETS// is used to refer to a zero-sum, interest-free, mutual-commitment/-credit community currency system. |
| | |
| | //LETS// is often used as an acronym for //Local Exchange Trading System// or //Local Energy Transfer System//. |
| |
| ==== The variety of definitions ==== | ==== The variety of definitions ==== |
| |
| * The essential characteristics of the original //LETS// model (presented to [[TOES]] are described in the [[https://archive.lets.net/gmlets/design/home.html|LETSystem Design Manual]], and include the requirement of metrical equivalence to the fiat money in use locally. It also requires an understanding from each user that //payments// in this local currency represents both a record of an exchange agreed by two parties and an an unenforceable undertaking to contribute services or goods agreed to be of comparable value back to the network/community of users. This is the interpretation of //LETS// and //LETSystem// on which the broader concept of [[open money]] is built. Because the model was propagated widely but incompletely with unsanctioned variations, term //LETSystem// was put into the protection of [[https://letsystem.org/|The LETSystem Trust]] in 1997. | * The essential characteristics of the original //LETS// model (presented to [[wp>TOES]] are described in the [[https://archive.lets.net/gmlets/design/home.html|LETSystem Design Manual]], and include the requirement of metrical equivalence to the fiat money in use locally. It also requires an understanding from each user that a //payment// in this local currency represents both a record of an exchange agreed by two parties and an an unenforceable undertaking to contribute services or goods agreed to be of comparable value back to the network/community of users. This is the interpretation of //LETS// and //LETSystem// on which the broader concept of [[open money]] is built. Because the model was propagated widely but incompletely with unsanctioned variations, term //LETSystem// was put into the protection of [[https://letsystem.org/|The LETSystem Trust]] in 1997. |
| |
| * A looser interpretation of the //LETS// model propagated widely and quickly in the 1990. Many such groups experimented with variations such as demurrage, interest, credit limits, elastic "system accounts", quirky names, units not metrically-equivalent to the local fiat money, and conflation of the concept of //commitment// with debt, none of which are compatible with the original //LETS/////LETSystem// design. More often than not, the term "LETS" is used to refer to this broad collection of variants. | * A looser interpretation of the //LETS// model propagated widely and quickly in the 1990. Many such groups experimented with variations such as demurrage, interest, credit limits, elastic "system accounts", quirky names, units not metrically-equivalent to the local fiat money, and conflation of the concept of //commitment// with debt, none of which are compatible with the original //LETS/////LETSystem// design. More often than not, the term "LETS" is used to refer to this broad collection of variants. |