adding newest blogs in site

content/blog/2020-kenyan.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 :title: 2020 Kenyan CICs in Review
 :author: Will Ruddick
-:date: Jan 2
+:date: Jan 2 2021
 :slug: 2020-kenyan
  
 :summary: We’re extremely excited about using CICs for developing support networks for vulnerable communities and households, and especially food syst

content/blog/decolonize-currency.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+:title: Decolonize Currency
+:author: Shaila Agha and Will Ruddick
+:date: Aug 27 2021
+:slug: decolonize-currency
+
+:summary: We recognize the struggle of people forced to use monopolistic currencies
+:tags: human rights, colonialism, economic sovereignity
+
+
+.. image:: images/blog/decolonize-currency1.webp
+
+
+The abuse of monopolistic currency systems has caused generations of economic trauma across the globe and fuels the destruction of our planet.
+
+Historically and today being forced to use currencies created by people outside your community meant you are under a colonial power. e.g `El Salvadorians and people in all Nations should not have to choose between various Crypto and other foreign currencies like USD <https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/07/14/the-headache-of-crypto-colonialism/>`_ Instead EMPOWER people to make their own economic systems and connect to others. Communities can create their OWN credit backed by their production and use it as medium of exchange - as has been done for centuries prior to colonization.
+
+The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates that 65 million firms, or 40% of formal micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in developing countries, have an unmet financing need of $5.2 trillion every year, which is equivalent to 1.4 times the current level of the global MSME lending." `World Bank <https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/smefinance/>`_
+
+The current global credit creation system is not able to serve the needs of the masses and foreign crypto would gladly try to fill this space as in El Salvador - while local economic systems and technology need support and regulation - and importantly **economic liberty needs to be understood as a fundamental human right.**
+
+There are 192 member states of the UN, all of whom have signed on in agreement with the `Universal Declaration of Human Rights <https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights/>`_ -written in 1948
+
+
+Article 22 - Social Security
+********************************
+
+*Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.*
+
+Article 22 needs to be brought up to speed in a world that is rapidly changing. Where communities, villages and cities can use technology to create their own systems. Further, it should extend to include the right for communities to develop their own forms of social security, good and service valuation, governance and economic systems.
+
+Dignity demands that people have the means to value themselves and their goods and services. A community (especially without access to National Currency or someone else’s crypto/token) must be empowered to create their own credit systems - just as they have done for countless generations throughout history prior to colonization.Nation states are encouraged to support regulation of these local economic systems and impose `taxation <https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/post/taxation-community-currencies/>`_  mechanisms - but they must enable people to freely develop their own credit and means of exchange and not be forced into systems that are predatory and that they hold no say or control over.
+
+The mission of Grassroots Economics Foundation is to enable people, groups and organizations to develop local economic systems, in order to trade, share, value, and support collective action. We seek to align grassroots economic systems with long term social and ecological health and declare the following:
+
+Declaration of Economic Liberty and Interdependence
+*******************************************************
+
+We recognize the struggle of people forced to use monopolistic currencies and the necessity of people to organize for the establishment of decentralized and interconnected economic systems.
+
+We hereby show our support towards the development of regulations, standards, policies and technologies that enable communities to create their own and connect to other economic systems and safeguard people from the dangers of monopolistic currencies for the betterment of humankind and our harmonious coexistence on planet Earth.
+
+We pledge to provide and support equitable, accessible and inclusive financial systems for all: Money created by the people, for the people.
+
+

content/blog/from-student-loans.rst

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+:title: From student loans to Student Currencies
+:author: Will Ruddick
+:date: Aug 21 2021
+:slug: from-student-loans
+
+:summary: Creating credit against future production is what built our industries and nations. This power should be used to support students, apprentic
+:tags: student loans, education, artists
+
+
+.. image:: images/blog/from-student-loans1.webp
+
+
+Credit creation is powerful
+*******************************
+
+Creating credit against future production is what built our industries and nations. This power should be used to support students, apprentices, artists and community projects.
+
+The ultimate student loan is not a loan - it is a currency.
+*****************************************************************
+
+Imagine a student able to create a credit backed against her future production and use it to pay for college, training, food and rent (acting as a circulating currency). All those people and organizations that accept the student's credit it can use it in the future (post graduation) to pay for the services of the student.
+
+The time and investment it takes to become an expert wood or leather craftsman or software developer - simply is impossible for a lot of people! What if that apprentice could be given a credit that paid for her time, and basic needs - and could later be used by people to buy her beautiful carved wooden Lamu doors or custom designed bag, or android application?
+
+
+Who guarantees student credit?
+************************************
+
+If it was a bank loan - the bank would require collateral and interest. The former isn't possible for most people and the later destroys lives and economies in the process.
+
+Again, what if credit was given to a student as an advance against their future salary? Say the student is becoming an artist. The employer could be anyone willing to buy or collect the art of the student and by accepting these credits the student pays off her debt without interest, and could again keep spending the credit onward for her needs. This virtuous loop creates a market for her goods and services - where the student's employers (product or service consumers) can accept the tokens from the people holding them by offering cash, goods or services for them - spend them on the student's goods and services and they keep flowing forming a local economy.
+
+So to begin this student credit system - we have a university, maker lab, business or group of businesses that creates the credit and they commit their own goods and services behind it (with a strong audit on their own ability to redeem). The student is then offered a credit line among this group using their unique community token (Community Inclusion Currency).
+
+That group accept the tokens of the student (for rent, services, materials, food etc) knowing they will use it to buy from (employ) the student in the future.
+
+
+.. image:: images/blog/from-student-loans3.webp
+
+The power of paying it forward
+********************************
+
+This model can work in MANY setting (for artists, creatives, community farming projects and so on) anywhere where we can see the opportunity and potential to pay it forward and give credit toward a vision of shared reciprocity and a better world. If we as a society can't take the risk against supporting our future engineers, artists and doctors - who will?
+

content/blog/impact-investment-and-community.rst

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+:title: Impact Investment and Community Currencies
+:author: Will Ruddick
+:date: Sept 17 2021
+:modified: Sept 22 2021
+:slug: impact-investment-and-community
+
+:summary: Enable social enterprises and communities to issue credit against their production as an impact investment opportunity
+:tags: impact investment ,social enterprise
+
+Communities creating their own medium of exchange has began to enter the humanitarian space yet impact investors especially in the cryptocurrency and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) space have just begun to look into Community Currencies as a way to invest in sustainable development.
+
+
+In their basic form the Community Inclusion Currencies we support are simply vouchers against the production of goods and services.
+
+.. image:: images/blog/impact-investment-and-community1.webp
+
+But when incorporated into an aid and impact investment framework CICs, created by social enterprises (#2 below), begin to take on new shapes:
+
+.. image:: images/blog/impact-investment-and-community2.webp
+
+
+Impact Investment Stages
+****************************
+
+1. **Initial Investment:** An investor/supporter agrees to support a social enterprise in return for a share of their tokenized production claims. (Community Inclusion Currencies (CICs) created in step 2 (but could have already started))
+
+2. **CIC Issuance:** The Social Enterprise issues a token (CIC) against their future production - valued in national currency. e.g. 1000 Shillings worth of recycled paper products. CICs are a way for a social enterprise to take out a zero interest loan against future production.
+
+    * CIC are used to pay for labour, suppliers, marketing and redeemable for goods and services. They enter general circulation and can be re-traded and taxed.
+
+    * CICs are subject to an gradual expiration in the form of an automatic holding tax that can be offered to local government to ensure that the 1:1 peg of CIC to products and services is held stable and valued in national currency.
+
+    * The investor receives back a portion of these CICs
+
+3. **Liquidity Provision:**  An investor or anyone holding both CIC and some other crypto, creates a liquidity pool (a contract like Uniswap that holds the CIC and some other crypto like USDC) and charges fees on conversion between the two. Note that the liquidity pool will have a variable exchange rate depending on the amount of CIC and other crypto in the pool.
+
+4. **Impact Investment:** An investor can now add more crypto to the pool in order to invest in the Social Enterprise's production - pulling out some CIC and also making CIC more valuable in the pool (dynamic exchange rate). When CIC holders (like the Social Enterprise) convert/liquidate their CIC to crypto using the pool, they will then reduce the exchange rate. The investor or a customer of the social enterprise can inject crypto to get the CIC cheaply in order to buy products 1:1 (Beneficial arbitrage stabilizes the exchange rate).
+
+5. **Impact Claim Investments:** Data from CIC usage, users and validators is collected and packaged into a NFT Impact Claims. These can represent all kinds of SDG impacts, carbon offsets, and audits against the value of the CIC itself.
+
+    * Anyone holding CICs can access / support these NFTs. Note that CIC payments on such a data marketplace can be divided automatically back to the community, investors and validators.
+
+The above design goes back to our work on bonding curves stretching back to 2018 and incorporates `Impact claims <https://www.ixo.world//>`_ and more general liquidity pools. We are looking forward to implementing these Community Inclusion Currency models in the following year with investment groups like `Nukkleus <https://www.nukk.com//>`_
+
+Can we enable social enterprises and communities to issue credit against their production and develop local currency systems that can be connected, supported and invested in? We're excited to iterate on these models and create something that is usable across the world.
+
+
+
+
+

content/blog/independent-survey-of.rst

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+:title: Independent Survey of 325 Sarafu Users
+:author: Will Ruddick
+:date: Sep 12 2021
+:slug: independent-survey-of
+
+:summary: “These days I restock my vegetables every day because people can use their Sarafu to get whatever I sell. I am making good profits too.”
+:tags: study, survey
+
+.. image:: images/blog/independent-survey-of1.webp
+
+60 Decibels an independent research team randomly selected 325 out of 47,858 registered users (as of early 2021). They separated these into 3 groups Frequent (5+ transactions), Infrequent (1-4 transactions) and Non-trading users all of whom registered between September 1st 2020 and January 31st 2020. According to the study 63% of frequent users saw a significant improvements to their quality of life, 28% of infrequent user and only 4% of non-trading users.
+
+**"Local shops have over time been plagued with debts from families living nearby. But thanks to Sarau we see relief." - Male Kisauni"**
+
+A lot of strong evidence suggested that users that formed groups of traders around them found the system easy to use and specifically saw it as a way out of informal debt.
+
+**“I liked the idea that one could use Sarafu to pay back a debt of cash. It would help clear small debts and you don’t have to worry about having change, unlike carrying a whole 1,000 shillings and the shopkeeper tells you I don’t have change.” - Male, Misc Mombasa"**
+
+While others that found themselves isolated, had a hard time understanding what Sarafu was or how to form a network themselves of traders.
+
+**“I do not know who to ask in case I have a challenge.” – Female, Mukuru Nairobi"**
+
+**“They should mobilize more people to join especially business people so that we customers we can easily buy from them using our points.” – Male, Mukuru Nairobi"**
+
+Nyanza was singled out as a place where users are much more likely to promote the concept. This is because they formed trading groups around strong local community groups, rather than seeing Sarafu as an airdrop of *confusing* aid tokens that couldn't be exchange for national currency. In areas where there wasn't a group/chama of users many people assumed that there should be a Sarafu store where they could use the vouchers - rather then them being that store.
+
+**“I have not used it much to see a life-changing experience. It becomes very discouraging when people shun the idea when you are trying your best to explain its importance and how more people will enhance its trade.” – Male, Kisauni"**
+
+The above quote really expresses how hard it is to be alone in a community of people that don't use Sarafu. Starting from scratch as an individual and building a network of Sarafu user around you is quite a challenge.
+
+**“These days I restock my vegetables every day because people can use their Sarafu to get whatever I sell. I am making good profits too.” – Female, Mombasa"**
+
+Again when surrounded by a community that is willing to pay-it-forward and support each other using Sarafu the results are quite tangible.
+
+This study gives us a lot of confidence in moving toward re-enabling communities to make their own Community Inclusion Currencies (CICs) rather than fully relying on airdropped Sarafu. Based on this and other studies, the process outlined and currently in draft for the creation of individual unique community created CIC is `here <https://gitlab.com/grassrootseconomics/cic-docs/-/blob/master/Sarafu_Network_Member_App_-_Draft__en_.pdf/>`_ .This follows closely how Bangla-Pesa, Lindi-Pesa and other community currencies had been designed in the past (built and owned locally) pre-2020. Indeed, the entire stretch from 2020 to now (September 2021) has been about redeveloping the software in order to allow for multiple currencies once again (after having to drop proprietary blockchain wallet interfaces).
+
+**“I used to see other groups benefitting from Sarafu; they could get sugar, maize flour, and rice through Sarafu, so I also inquired from a friend about them and then I joined.” – Female, Mukuru Nairobi"**
+
+We seek to support all kinds of tokens in our last-mile wallets (even those for cash transfer programs), but rather than being solely a foreign injector of tokens (like Sarafu) we want community groups to create and own their own tokens. While some 1st time users will still encounter Sarafu (as an training airdrop/gift token), people will be able to form their own CICs in their own groups. Improving user experience and support to communities is a huge priority.
+
+.. image:: images/blog/independent-survey-of2.webp
+
+While the results on usage and satisfaction were quite polarizing between frequent and on-users, it was clear that there really was no viable alternative to trade among each other without national currency other than Sarafu (and we hope their own CICs quite soon). We believe that this points to the need for infrastructure (Like CICs) that provides `Economic Liberty <https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/post/decolonize-currency/>_` ; enabling people to choose and create any medium of change they want.
+
+We're really excited about the leanings and the path forward and appreciate `DOEN.nl <https://www.doen.nl//>`_ and the `60 Decibels <https://60decibels.com/>`_ team for this study and welcome many more such independent studies. `Read the full study here!  <https://www.grassrootseconomics.org/research/>`_
+
+
+

content/blog/the-emperor-has.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+:title: The Emperor Has No Clothes
+:author: Will Ruddick
+:date: Sep 1 2021
+:slug: the-emperor-has
+
+:summary: A middle path toward salvaging credit money from the ruin of politicians and downright bad actors without creating commodity whales.
+:tags: commodity, credit, monopoly, community
+
+.. image:: images/blog/the-emperor-has1.webp
+
+
+We shift back and forth as a society trying to decide who we can trust to issue currency, like children caught between quarreling parents.
+
+One parent tells us that **only commodities** - things that can be owned and collected and made scarce are to be used safely as money. The proponents of this view have ranged from the kings of old, sitting on thrones bought with gold from their mines - to the Bitcoin whales of today basting on yachts bought with scarce tokens from their digital miners. Anyone that happens to have such a commodity money - simply wants other people to think it is valuable and before long, even if initially well distributed and well intentioned, it becomes monopolized.
+
+The parent says tell us to **trust only them** - i.e. governments and banking cartels - who issue more and more credit all the time against what ... it's hard to say and no one holds them accountable.  The rapidly rising amounts of credit in the form of national currency in the hands of the few, without a corresponding increase in productivity has worried people enough yell "The Emperor has no clothes!" and for some to revert back to commodity money - in the form of scarce-by-design systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Sadly, these tokens like all commodity monies tend toward monopoly even with best intentions at heart. The emperors and whales holding vast amounts of these tokens, again sit on thrones, while inequality runs rampant. **All such emperors, high on power, are actually wearing no clothes in the end - as we can't live in a society of rising inequality for long nor can our ecosystems deal with the fallout.**
+
+What if there was a middle path toward salvaging credit money from the ruin of politicians and downright bad actors without creating commodity emperors and whales? What if there was a way to decentralize the issuance of credit money and to validate its worth, trade histories and claims against redemption?
+
+**There is!** It's called by many names and dates back to the origins of money itself: Mutual Credit, Community Currency, Flying Money, Community Money, Credit Clearing houses/unions, Barter credits, Producer Credit and recently Community Inclusion Currency as implemented by Grassroots Economics and the other Humanitarian organizations.
+
+.. image:: images/blog/the-emperor-has2.webp
+
+Businesses, municipalities and communities can and are issuing their own credit backed by obligations for redemption in defined goods and services. These credits are internally regulated and taxed to work in coordination with national governments. All this can be done transparently on distributed ledger technology - which is secure from attacks and fraud. Gesell taxes on these credits ensure there is no advantage to hoarding/collecting them and the tax can be redistributed as basic income, social services and so on. Finally these credit systems are linked together through liquidity pools and balanced baskets of such credits form stable reserves / network tokens.
+
+We have the technology and will to create truly decentralized credit systems based on trust in real goods and services. Together we need to grow up and collectively point at our parents, emperors, whales and politicians to end the monopolies on media of exchange and establish economic liberty as a human right. We must humbly learn from and build on these concepts as they have been implemented in communities around the world for generations. **Tap into our own abundance!**
+

ge-theme/static/css/research.css

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     font-size: 20px;
 }
+.re-small-font-link{
+    color: black;
+    font-size: 20px;
+    padding-bottom: 10px;
+}
+.re-small-font-link:hover{
+    color: black;
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ge-theme/templates/research-page.html

@@ -83,6 +83,52 @@
                 </div>
             </div>
         </div>
+        <div class="crisis-response">
+            <div class="d-flex">
+                <div class="me-auto">
+                    <p class="re-small-font bold-font">Sarafu - User Phone Survey and Analysis 2021</p>
+                    <a class="re-small-font-link"
+                       href="https://1fce7114-8e4a-43c5-bcbd-d2b877364fde.filesusr.com/ugd/ce30dd_0bade9a305f84675917a527c59a7de54.pdf">60
+                        Decibels</a>
+                </div>
+            </div>
+            <div class="abstract pt-5">
+                <p class="re-small-font">Abstract:</p>
+                <p class="re-small-font">325 Sarafu users in Kenya were sampled out of Frequent, Infrequent and
+                    non-trading registered. The survey and analysis found, among many things, that 44% of users were
+                    using Sarafu to buy household items and 41% used Sarafu specifically to access food. Strikingly the
+                    study found that 99% of users had no alternative to an alternative to Sarafu for trading with others
+                    when national currency was scarce.</p>
+            </div>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="crisis-response">
+            <div class="d-flex">
+                <div class="me-auto">
+                    <p class="re-small-font bold-font">Sarafu - CIC 2020-2021 Data Published</p>
+                    <p><a class="re-small-font-link" href="https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/855142/">Anonymous
+                        transaction and meta data on Sarafu usage</a></p>
+                    <p class="re-small-font">William O. Ruddick</p>
+                    <p class="re-small-font">Criscone, Teodoro</p>
+                    <p class="re-small-font">Mattsson, C.E.S</p>
+                </div>
+            </div>
+            <div class="abstract pt-5">
+                <p class="re-small-font">Abstract:</p>
+                <p class="re-small-font">We describe a dataset of account information and transaction records for a
+                    digital community currency in Kenya. One unit of “Sarafu” is roughly equivalent in value to a Kenyan
+                    shilling. The Sarafu system has existed since 2010 and began operating digitally via USSD
+                    feature-code cellular technology in 2017. This dataset includes pseudonymized account information
+                    for around 55,000 users and records of all Sarafu transactions conducted from 25/01/2020 to
+                    15/06/2021. User transactions capture various economic and financial activities such as purchases,
+                    transfers, and participation in savings and lending groups. So-called "chamas" are key to the
+                    operation of the Sarafu system and clearly labeled in the data. This dataset will contribute to
+                    research on the operation of community currencies, monetary systems, and economic networks in
+                    underdeveloped areas. The observation period includes the first year of the coronavirus pandemic and
+                    several documented pilot projects and development interventions.</p>
+            </div>
+        </div>
+
         <div class="crisis-response">
             <div class="d-flex">
                 <div class="me-auto">