In his 1989 book Building Futures, David Boyle, who has died aged 67 from complications linked to Parkinson’s, argued that mainstream economics was failing cities and a new localism could save them. This emphasis on communities rather than large-scale centralised development tied in with the broad theme that David saw as running through his work: “The importance of human-scale institutions over centralised ones, human imagination over dull rationalism, and the human spirit over technocratic reduction.”
Funny Money: In Search of Alternative Cash (1999) explored local economic systems found mainly on a journey through the US. Exchanging services within community systems run by volunteers can be facilitated through “time banks”. The idea of the “time dollar”, representing one hour of help, whether grocery shopping or preparing a tax return, was popularised by the Washington law professor Edgar Cahn.
