The Miracle of Wörgl

Legend has it that in the midst of the Great Depression, the mayor of the city of Wörgl, in Austria, issued a new currency… which depreciated every month by 1% due to the so-called rate of oxidation! That currency was a “Certified Compensation Bill”, a form of local currency best known by Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld.

What followed was wonderful: the currency got into circulation, unemployed people got back to work, local businesses reopened, and in order to avoid losing money a high percentage of citizens spent the currency very fast, local government projects could be all completed … The implementation of the currency resulted in a growth of employment and prosperity, creating a virtuous circle. More surprisingly, inflation and deflation were not detected during the experiment…. Believe it or not, it all happened during the worst economic crisis of the century!

Legend has it that in order to reverse the crisis, other cities tried to replicate the Wörgl model, but the National Bank of Austria decided to terminate the experiment on September 1, 1933.