[cc_research] CCs studies in universities

[Miguel Yasuyuki Hirota]

     Dear Jérôme and others,

     I'd like to introduce myself once more for those who have recently 
joined this discussion group.

     My name is "Miguel" Yasuyuki Hirota from Fukuoka, Japan.  Formerly 
I was a Ph.D. student in Japan but now am a mere freelance translator, 
saving the conventional money and thinking of my next step (I'll 
announce my plans I'm ready).

     I've been studying CCs for 10 years but from now on I'll rather 
work to promote CCs than to study them.  Please visit my website 
http://www.olccjp.net/ (in English and other languages) for your comments.

     I've been visiting some countries to exchange ideas with those who 
work for CCs, and my general impressions are as follows:

     * Generally speaking, complementary currencies continue to be a 
marginal topic in the economics and among the public in general, even in 
countries with interesting initiatives like Germany and Brazil.
     * Time Banks tend to be easier to be accepted by conventional 
academicians, especially sociologists and others who study social policies.
     * Japan is a peculiar country where effects of CCs have been 
exaggerated and their uses have been meticulously manipulated by the 
elite.  Personally I'm not that optimistic as Bernard Lietaer about 
Japan because no initiative has been or will be able to really "take 
off" after reaching the critical mass.

     However, I've been receiving some interesting news recently.

     1) A legal counsel for the Central Bank of Brazil has been studying 
legal aspects of "social money" (as is called there), giving favourable 
view on CCs.
     2) In Uruguay a new B2B CC will be launched in March, with the 
supports from the Ministry of Labour, Ministry of Economy and Finance 
and even from the Central Bank of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay on 
top of Strohalm (http://www.strohalm.org/ for those who still don't know).
     3) I still haven't confirmed yet if it's true or not, but Mohamad 
Mahathir, a former prime minister of Malaysia, is in favour of the dual 
currency system, i.e. one for the global economy and another for 
regional one.  Although he didn't mention CCs, he must have similar 
ideas as ours.

     I hope 2009 to be a breakthrough year for the CC movement all over 
the world...

     Best regards,

     Miguel

-- 
****************************
Miguel Yasuyuki Hirota
mig at olccjp.net
OLCCJP: http://www.olccjp.net
Blog: http://mig76en.wordpress.com/
(with link to other languages)
http://migjp2003.wordpress.com/
(in English and Spanish)
Skype name: migjp2003
MSN: mig at lime.plala.or.jp