Identity and Money: A Case Study

Summary

The episode examines Ireland’s 1966‑1976 bank strikes, showing how the economy survived without cash by relying on cheques, IOUs and locally‑issued substitutes backed by strong social capital. It highlights that reputation‑based identity networks—often mediated through pubs and community figures—enabled informal credit to flow, keeping wages, trade and output stable despite bank closures. The case study underscores that resilient payment systems depend more on trusted identity infrastructure than on physical cash, offering lessons for modern financial‑crisis planning.