[EdSharkey]

> Government money is artificially scarce

Wot? Not sure how to respond to something so silly. I hope you mistyped. From whence does one derive their "money supply"?

Scrip is a placeholder for value like any other printed currency. It works well in place of debased government fiat, at least in times of trouble, because the web of trust at the local level is strong enough to back individual transactions.