Rethinking Money

Home > Other > Rethinking Money > Page 24
Rethinking Money Page 24

by Bernard Lietaer


  23. Castell, Das Informationszeitalter Bd.II. and Bd III.

  24. Rodgers, et al., Social Exclusion and also E. Minigione, Urban Poverty and the Underclass (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996).

  Chapter 4

  1. Glyn Davies, A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1994), 27.

  2. This definition has been explored by Rabbi Nilton Bonder in his book, The Kabbalah of Money: Jewish Insights on Giving, Owning, and Receiving (Boston: Shambhala Books, 1996).

  3. Estimate made by the authors based on conversations with practitioners globally.

  4. For more details, see Bernard Lietaer, Robert Ulanowicz, and Sally Goerner, “White Paper on All the Options for Managing Systemic Bank Crises,” October 2008; Robert Ulanowicz, Sally Goerner, Bernard Lietaer, and Rocio Gomez, “Quantifying Sustainability: Efficiency, Resilience and the Return of Information Theory,” Journal of Ecological Complexity, February–March 2010. See www.lietaer.com.

  5. Luc Laevan and Fabian Valencia, “Resolution of Banking Crises: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” IMF Working Paper 10/146 (Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund, 2010), 4. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp10146.pdf; Gerard Caprio and Daniela Klingebiel, “Bank Insolvencies: Cross-Country Experience,” Policy Research Working Paper PRWP1620 (Washington, DC: World Bank, 1996); Graziela L. Kaminsky and Carmen M. Reinhart, “Twin Crises: The Causes of Banking and Balance-of-Payments Problems,” American Economic Review, American Economic Association, 89, no. 3 (June 1999): 473–500.

  6. Fritz Schwartz, Das Experiment von Wörgl (Bern, Switzerland: Genossenschaft Verlag Freiwirtschaftlicher Schriften, 1951).

  7. See M. Amato, L. Fantacci, and L. Doria, Complementary Currency Systems in a Historical Perspective (Milan: Bocconi University, Department of Economic History, 2003).

  8. Marc Bloch, Esquisse d’une histoire monétaire de l’Europe (Paris: Armand Colin, 1954); Marcel Van der Beek, “Het Muntwezen in de Landen van Herwaartsover,” in Keizer Karels Geldbeurs: Geld en Financiën in de XVIe Eeuw (Essays for a Catalog for Special Exhibitions held in Gent, April 1 to 24, 2000, and in Brussels, May 15 to June 30, 2000) (National Bank of Belgium, 2000), 147–169.

  9. Initially issued by Constantine (306–337 AD), its official name was the solidus, but it was generally known as the bezant. It was issued at the same weight (4.55 grams of gold) and purity (98 percent pure gold) for a record 700 years. It circulated widely all over Europe and the Middle East, way beyond the borders of the Byzantine Empire.

  10. See Carlo M. Cipolla, Il governo della moneta a Firenze e a Milano nei secoli XIV–XVI (Bologna, Italy: Società editrice il Mulino, 1990).

  11. Fernand Braudel, La dinamica del capitalismo (Bologna, Italy: Società editrice il Mulino, 1981); Aldo de Maddalena, La ricchezza dell’Europa (Milan: Egea, 1992).

  12. G. Einaudi, “Teoria della moneta immaginaria nel tempo da Carlomagno alla Rivoluzione francese,” Rivista di Storia Economica 1, no. 1 (Torino, 1936).

  13. Jean-Philippe Bouchaud and Marc Mézard, “Wealth Condensation in a Simple Model of Economy,” 2000, www.thetransitioner.org/wiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=6. See also Jean-Philippe Bouchaud, “La (regrettable) complexité des systèmes économiques,” Pour la Science, December 2003.

  14. David A. Bosnich, “The Principle of Subsidiarity.” www.acton.org/publications/randl/rl_article_200.php: “Subsidiarity holds that nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization, which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization. In other words, any activity which can be performed by a more decentralized entity should be. This principle is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom.” The concept or principle is found in several constitutions around the world. For example, the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution asserts states’ rights. Subsidiarity was established in European Union law by the Treaty of Maastricht, signed on February 7, 1992, and entered into force on November 1, 1993. The present formulation is contained in Article 5(2) of the Treaty on European Union (consolidated version following the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force on December 1, 2009).

  15. Its promoters included most leading American economists of the 1930s: Henry Simons and Paul Douglas from Chicago University, Irving Fisher from Yale, Frank Graham and Charles Whittlesley from Princeton, and Earl Hamilton from Duke University—and also a young fledgling economist named Milton Friedman, who later came to be known for a very different set of monetary views.

  16. While the Chicago Plan or its most recent versions, such as the one presented in Joseph Huber and James Robertson, Creating New Money: A Monetary Reform for the Information Age, New Economics Foundation, 2000, available as a free pdf download from www.jamesrobertson.com/subject-guide.htm#money. These authors propose to nationalize the money creation process; they have no intention of nationalizing the banking system itself. Banks would continue to compete with each other and to allocate financial resources as they do today. The only—but significant—difference is that their functioning would be based on 100 percent reserves, and they would therefore not be able to create debt money ex nihilo.

  17. www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2012/wp12202.pdf and www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/9623863/IMFs-epic-plan-to-conjure-away-debt-and-dethrone-bankers.html.

  18. F. A. Hayek, Denationalisation of Money: The Argument Refined. The Theory and Practice of Concurrent Currencies (Sussex, England: The Institute of Economic Affairs, first edition 1976, enlarged in 1978, 1990). See http://mises.org/books/denationalisation.pdf, p. 28.

  Chapter 5

  1. John Naisbitt, Megatrends (New York: Warner Books, 1982), 183.

  2. Paul Hawken, Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming (New York: Viking, 2007), 4.

  3. Michael Linton, interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 9, 2011.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Edgar Cahn, interview with Jacqui Dunne, November 20, 2011.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Lisa Conlan, interview with Jacqui Dunne, January 9, 2012.

  8. Cahn, interview.

  9. Meltem Şendağ, interview with Jacqui Dunne, July 1, 2012.

  10. Cahn, interview.

  11. Ibid.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Stephanie Rearick, interview with Jacqui Dunne, May 22, 2012.

  14. Mira Luna, in conversation with Jacqui Dunne, June 29, 2012.

  15. Sharon Lee Schwartz, interview with Jacqui Dunne, January 3, 2012.

  16. “IRS Ruling,” TimeBanks USA. http://besttimebank.org/Links/Time%20Dollar/IRS%20Ruling.htm.

  17. Margrit Kennedy, interview with Jacqui Dunne, June 1, 2012.

  18. Ibid.

  19. Margrit Kennedy and Bernard Lietaer: Regional-waehrungen: Neue Wege zu nachhaltigem Wohlstand (Munich: Riemann Verlag, 2004).

  20. Civic Economics, “Andersonville Study of Retail Economics,” BALLE Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, October 2004. www.livingeconomies.org.

  21. Kennedy, interview.

  22. Christian Gelleri, interview with Jacqui Dunne, January 17, 2012.

  23. Susan Witt, correspondence with Jacqui Dunne, November 1, 2011.

  24. Lawrence H. Officer and Samuel H. Williamson, “Purchasing Power of Money in the United States from 1774 to Present,” Measuring Worth, 2011. www.measuringworth.com.

  25. Marjorie Deane and Robert Pringle, The Central Banks (New York: Viking, 1995), 352–354; United Nations Statistics Division, International Labor Office Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, 1990 to 1996. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/mbs/.

  26. Edgar Kampers, interview with Jacqui Dunne, March 19, 2012.

  Chapter 6

  1. Speech, New York, October 25, 2010. See www.qfinance.com/finance-and-business-quotes/banking.

  2. James Van Dyke, “‘Bank Transfer Day,’ What Really Just Happened?” Javelin Strategy and Research, January 26, 2012. www.javelinstrategy.com.

  3. “Move Your Money Movement This Saturday
,” CNN Money, November 4, 2011.

  4. Antoin E. Murphy, Money in an Economy without Banks: The Case of Ireland (Manchester: Manchester School of Economics, March 1978).

  5. Michael Linton, interview with Jacqui Dunne, June 2, 2012.

  6. Murphy, Money in an Economy without Banks.

  7. Some people had access to British pounds; although usually accepted by merchants, these transactions were in a minority. See ibid.

  8. WIR Annual Report, 2010. www.wir.ch.

  9. James Stodder, “The Macro-Stability of Swiss WIR-Bank Spending: Balance and Leverage Effects,” paper submitted to Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, 2011.

  10. WIR Annual Report, 2010, 12. www.wir.ch.

  11. James Stodder, “Complementary Credit Networks and Macro-Economic Stability: Switzerland’s Wirtschaftsring,” Jounal of Economic Behavior and Organization 72 (October 2009).

  12. James Stodder, “Reciprocal Exchange Networks: Implications for Macroeconomic Stability,” paper presented at the International Electronic and Electrical Engineering (IEEE) Engineering Management Society (EMS), Albuquerque, NM, August 2000, 3.

  13. James Stodder and Bernard Lietaer, “The Macro-Stability of Swiss WIR-Bank Spending: Balance, Velocity and Leverage,” (forthcoming).

  14. Tobias Studer, “Le Système WIR dans l’optique d’un chercheur Américain,” WirPlus. www.wir.ch.

  15. Amy Kirschner interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 2, 2011.

  16. João Joaquim de Melo Neto Segundo interviewed by Jacqui Dunne, December 28, 2011.

  17. “Cifras más reseñables, Corporación MONDRAGON” (Mondragon Corporation). www.mondragon-corporation.com/CAS/Magnitudes-Econ%C3%B3micas/Cifras-m%C3%A1s-rese%C3%B1ables.aspx.

  18. Henk Van Arkel, interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 16, 2011.

  19. Asier Ansorena, Asesor interviewed by Jacqui Dunne, January 13, 2012.

  20. Aurineide Alves Cordeiro interview based on written questions by Jacqui Dunne and translation by Aiser Ansorena.

  21. Celia de Anca and Cristina Trullols, “JAK Medlemsbank Free Interest Banking in a Changing Global Financial System,” IE Business School, January 11, 2011. www.ie.edu/business-school/.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Mark Anielski, “An Assessment of Sweden’s No-Interest Bank,” The JAK Members Bank, Sweden, 2003. Prepared by ANIELSKI Management Inc., Canada.

  24. Eddy Allen interview via personal correspondence with Jacqui Dunne, July 5, 2012.

  25. Fareed Zakaria, “The ‘Angry Birds’ Dress,” CNN, December 13, 2012. globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com.

  26. Mark Fischer interviewed by Jacqui Dunne, July 3, 2012.

  27. Lance Whitney, “Cell Phone Subscriptions to Hit 5 Billion Globally,” CNET, February 16, 2010. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-10454065-78.html#ixzz1k6sXaPmP.

  28. Ross Tieman, “Mobile Phone Operators Revolutionise Cash Transfers,” Financial Times, June 3, 2008.

  Chapter 7

  1. John Wasik, “Where Is the Real US Jobs Plan?” Reuters Money, September 2, 2011.

  2. Martin Ford, “The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future.” www.thelightsinthetunnel.com.

  3. McKinsey Global Institute, “An Economy That Works: Job Creation and America’s Future,” June 2011. www.mckinsey.com/insights/mgi.

  4. Brian Arthur, The Second Economy McKinsey Quartley, September 10, 2012. www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_second_economy_285.

  5. Kevin Kliesen and Julia Maués, “Are Small Businesses the Biggest Producers of Jobs?” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. www.kiplinger.com/columns/onthejob/archive/10-jobs-that-didnt-exist-10-years-ago.html#ixzz1krNeoFAX.

  6. Henk Van Arkel, interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 16, 2011.

  7. Edgar Kampers, interview with Jacqui Dunne, June 3, 2012.

  8. Koen de Beer, interview with Jacqui Dunne, May 30, 2012.

  9. Arthur Brock, interview with Jacqui Dunne, July 7, 2012.

  10. Ned Smith, “Incubators Heat Up Chances of Small Business Success,” Business News Daily, October 5, 2010.

  11. Sergio Lub, interview with Jacqui Dunne, July 7, 2012.

  Chapter 8

  1. “Recycling is done at a plant (itself made from recycled materials) by previously unemployed people including the homeless and recovering alcoholics. Paper recycling alone saves the equivalent of 1,200 trees a day. Recovered materials are sold to local industries, and the proceeds used to fund social programs.” The Brazilian city of Curitiba may be most livable city in the world. See http://hopebuilding.pbworks.com/w/page/19222330/Brazilian%20city%20of%20Curitiba%20may%20be%20most%20livable%20city%20in%20the%20world.

  2. See www.sb05.com/plenary/Lerner.html.

  3. See www.globeaward.org/winner-city-2010.

  4. The 1993–1995 data is derived from Indústria, Comércio e Turismo Gestão Rafael Creca (December 1996). The respective growth rates are 8.6 percent per annum for Curitiba, 6 percent for the state of Paraná, and 5 percent for Brazil. The respective per capita growth rates between 1980 and 1995 are 277 percent for Curitiba, 190 percent for Paraná, and 192 percent for Brazil. Statistics from Informaciones Socioeconomicas, issued by the Prefeitura da Cidade Curitiba (1996) compared with the Brazilian databases of SACEN, IPARDES, and SICT/ICPI.

  5. Richard A. Epstein, “Beyond Austerity,” Defining Ideas: A Hoover Institute Journal, May 1, 2012. www.hoover.org/publications/defining-ideas/article/116071.

  6. Matthew Boesler, “Introducing the ‘Geuro’: A Radical New Currency Idea to Solve All of Greece’s Problems,” Business Insider, May 20, 2012. www.businessinsider.com/introducing-the-geuro-a-new-parallel-currency-to-solve-all-of-greeces-problems-2012-5#ixzz1vbUNQjTC.

  7. Edgar Kampers, interview with Jacqui Dunne, June 3, 2012.

  8. Lisa Conlan, interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 28, 2011.

  9. Jeffrey Freed, interview with Jacqui Dunne, March 2, 2012.

  10. Igor Byttebier, interview with Jacqui Dunne, May 25, 2012.

  11. There was only one test so far.

  Chapter 9

  1. Richard H. Timberlake, “Private Production of Scrip-Money in the Isolated Community,” Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 19, no. 4 (1987): 437–447.

  2. David Pugh, interview with Jacqui Dunne, January 17, 2012.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Becky Booth, interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 6, 2011.

  5. Ceri Green, “Time2Grow Evaluation 2010–2011,” TimeBanking Wales, 2011. www.timebankingwales.org.uk/userfiles/Time2Grow%20-%20%20Evaluation.pdf.

  6. Paul Glover, interview with Jacqui Dunne, June 20, 2012.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Jacqui Dunne is a board member of A Human Right.

  10. Kosta Grammatis, interview with Jacqui Dunne, May 13, 2012.

  11. Bryan Walsh, “Trash Problems in Paradise,” Time magazine, January 7, 2008. www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1701095,00.html#ixzz1xtgStTME.

  12. Rui Izumi, associate professor at the School of Economics, Senshu University, in Tokyo, personal correspondence with Jacqui Dunne: “Major factors that have contributed to the growth of local currencies: First, and perhaps surprisingly, was a program on national television in the late 1990s called Michael Ende’s Last Message. This broadcast profiled complementary systems from the 1930s in Europe up [to] today’s WIR, LETS, and other popular systems. It touched a collective nerve. At that time, Japan was in deflationary depression after the East-Asian financial crisis happened in 1997 and a bubble economic collapse in 1991, and these caused many Japanese people to wonder about speculation and money. Second, Toshiharu Kato, a bureaucrat at Department of Trade and Industry, created the term ‘Eco-money.’ Many people felt an affinity with the term rather than the phrase ‘community or complementary currency,’ and many books with the title containing the term ‘Eco-money’ were published.”

  13. As quoted in Makoto Maruyama, “Local Currencies in New Zealand and Australia,” in Dyna
mics of Cultures and Systems in the Pacific Rim, ed. Junji Koizumi (Osaka: Osaka University Press, 2003), 183.

  14. Izumi, personal correspondence.

  15. STRO and Stephen DeMeulenaere’s proposal was a cofinalist in an Ashoka Change-maker’s Competition in 2006.

  16. Gregory D. Kutz and John J. Ryan, “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief: Improper and Potentially Fraudulent Individual Assistance Payments Estimated to Be between $600 Million and $1.4 Billion,” United States Government Accountability Office (GAO), June 14, 2006.

  17. Stephen DeMeulenaere, interview with Jacqui Dunne, December 2, 2011.

  18. Edgar Cahn, founder of TimeBanking, interview with Jacqui Dunne, June 30, 2012.

  Chapter 10

  1. William Butler Yeats, The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (London: Wordsworth, 1994), 81.

  2. Alex von Muralt, “The Wörgl Experiment with Depreciating Money,” Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics 10 (1934): 48–57. Also, see Fritz Schwartz, Das Experiment von Wörgl (Bern: Genossenschaft Verlag Freiwirtschaftlicher Schriften, 1951), 14.

  3. Wörgl’s Heimat Museum; and Schwartz, Das Experiment von Wörgl.

  4. Irving Fisher, “Stamped Scrip and the Depression.” Fourth Letter to the Editor, The New Republic, 74 (April 12, 1933): 246.

  5. Before the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), there were marks. These were replaced by the Rentenmark in 1923 to counter inflation and by the Reichsmark one year later on August 30, 1924, when the inflation slowed down. The Reichsmark was replaced with the Deutsche mark when it was introduced by a new currency law on June 20, 1948.

  6. Glyn Davies, A History of Money: From Ancient Times to the Present Day (Cardiff: University of Wales, 1994), 572–574.

  7. In 1929, the Wära Tauschgesellschaft was founded by two Gesell followers, Hans Timm and Reinhard Rödiger.

  8. Claude Million, PhD dissertation, “Nebenwährungen gegen Absatzstockung und Beschäftigungskrise—Die amerikanischen Versuche mit scrip während der Grossen Depression Humboldt” (Universität zu Berlin, April 1998).

 

‹ Prev