Compementary currencies -a solution to the economic crisis
Posted by yeslove, January 22nd, 2009 | Print | Svenska
Bernard Lietaer: White Paper on the Options for Managing Systemic Bank Crises
The on-going financial crisis results not from a cyclical or managerial failure, but from a structural one. Part of the evidence for this assertion is that there have already been more than 96 other major banking crises over the past 20 years, and that such crashes have happened even under very different regulatory systems as well as at different stages of economic development.
We urgently need to find better solutions because the last time we faced a breakdown of this scope, the Great Depression of the 1930s, ended up in a wave of fascism, and World War II However, so far the conventional solutions being applied – nationalization of the problem assets (as in the original Paulson bailout) or nationalization of the banks (as in Europe) – only deal with the symptoms, not the systemic cause of today’s banking crisis. Similarly, the financial reregulation that will be on everybody’s political agenda will, at best, reduce the frequency of such crises, but not avoid their re-occurrence.
The good news is that a systemic understanding and technical solution are now available that would ensure that such crashes become a phenomenon of the past. A recent conceptual breakthrough, that takes its evidence from balanced, structurally sound, and highly functioning eco-systems now proves that all complex systems, including our monetary and financial ones, become structurally unstable whenever efficiency is overemphasized at the expense of diversity, interconnectivity and the crucial resilience they provide. The surprising systemic “a-ha” insight is that sustainable vitality involves diversifying our types of currencies and institutions and introducing new ones that are designed specifically to increase the availability of money in its prime function as a medium of exchange, rather than for savings or speculation. Additionally, these currencies are expressly designed to link what would remain otherwise unused resources with unmet needs within a community, region or country. These currencies are know as “complementary” because they do not replace the conventional national money, but rather operate in parallel with it.
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Comments are currently closed on this entry.5 Responses to “Compementary currencies -a solution to the economic crisis”
2009-01-23
Samme Bernard sade en sak i denna intervju som tydliggör saken på ett bra och kortfattat sätt:
“Assume that a Martian lands in Denver on the wrong side of the
tracks. He ends up in one of the ghettos and finds that the houses
are run down, the kids not taken care of, the elderly in trouble, and
the trees dying. He sees all these things, and discovers that there
are people and organizations absolutely equipped and ready to solve
every one of those problems. So this Martian asks, “What are you
waiting for?” The answer: “We’re waiting for money.” “What is money?”
the Martian inquires. “It’s an agreement in a community to use
something as a medium of exchange.” Don’t you think he may leave the
planet believing there is no intelligent life here?”
Bernard är dessutom en av de grå och rätt anonyma konstruktörerna bakom euron.
2009-01-23
Hehe, vilket träffande citat. Läste hela intervjun och är ganska överväldigad av mannen, tycker han har hittat grundbulten och lösningen på nästan varenda problem vi har här på klotet. Hans hövligt utsräckta hand mot regeringar och bankväsen är trevlig men inte nödvändig, undrar vad som händer när den här iden sjunker in hos det teknologiskt aktiva fildelningscommunityt?
Om vi bara lyckas undvika de yttre militära riskerna känns det *nästan* som man kan luta sig tillbaka i stolen och se framtiden an med ett stort smajl.
Nobelklass.
2009-05-24
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2009-06-05
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