ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the implications of the research into Time Banking in the United States. The terrible decline of the global economy in the late 2000s led to local currencies such as Time Banks receiving more and more attention among grassroots organizations and in the national and international mainstream media. Time Banks can be found in many parts of the United States and are most prevalent in New England, the West Coast, and the Great Lakes area. Time Banking's egalitarianism, an hour for an hour regardless of skill, represents a radical departure from the economic status quo. Local currencies may represent an example of 're-embedding', 'purposive action to enhance collective social well-being in exchange relations'. The positive effects of age and unemployment on social motivations that people found at Hour Exchange Portland (HEP) suggest that this Time Bank is successfully appealing to them most in need of re-establishing social bonds.
