Current currencies

July 1, 2009 8:56 PM

Was there a recent book comparing scrip and local currencies to e-cash/online points systems, or am I imagining it?

I could have sworn I heard about a book that compared systems of scrip to website based points systems like Linden Dollars, but I'm having trouble finding such a book. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

posted by Soliloquy to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

Edward Castronova is an academic expert on the economics of virtual worlds. He has written two books and many papers on this topic. I don't know if he has written what you mention but it is a good possibility.
posted by JJ86 at 6:22 AM on July 2, 2009

I was also going to suggest Edward Castronova, and that you might have been thinking about his Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun Is Changing Reality from November of last year.
There is also Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot by Julian Dibbell from 2007.
posted by gemmy at 7:36 AM on July 2, 2009

And a little older but on similar topic, Castronova's Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games (2005)
posted by mmw at 10:40 AM on July 2, 2009