About the Transforming Money theme

 

Though the tool of money is a social construct, the very form and nature of its current method of issue is rarely questioned when addressing the need to transform our economy to one that is more just and sustainable.  What might be sound principles for monetary issue in a new economy?  How might the process be more democratized?  These are questions that will be discussed under this theme from both a theoretical and applied point of view. Panels will examine the nature of money, its origins, its status as a commodity, and its place in social relationship and language. Other panels will examine specific contemporary examples of regional currencies—including BerkShares in western Massachusertts, WIR in Switzerland, and Chiemgauer in Bavaria— as well as the potential offered by community-based electronic platforms to work alongside present currency systems. 

 

Online Resources

Watch videos, read articles, and explore blogs and websites.

• Lecture: “The Role of the Individual in Localizing Money Issue and Credit Creation” — Christopher Houghton Budd
• Video: “Why we Need Alternative Currencies” — Gwendolyn Hallsmith
• PDF: “Beyond Yes and No” (2003) — New Economics Foundation
• Video: BBC Coverage of BerkShares Local Currency
• Article: “Modern Greeks Return to Ancient System of Barter” —  National Public Radio
• Video: “Money Makes People Less Socially Focused” — Stanford Graduate School of Business
• Video: "Where Does Money Come From?" --- New Economics Foundation
• Article: David Boyle’s Speech at the Launch of the Brixton Pound
• Web: NEF page on Monetary Reform
• Article: "Local Solution to Greece's International Crisis" — David Boyle

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

The annotated bibliography contains more scholarly and technical materials related to this theme.  Download a pdf of the Transforming Money annotated bibliography here.

Related Books

Our staff has compiled book lists on each conference theme on WorldCat.org, a catalog of libraries around the world.  Use WorldCat to locate a book at a library near you. Explore the Transforming Money book list.

 

 

The Role of the Individual in Localizing Money Issue and Credit Creation
by Christopher Houghton Budd

For me, money and credit are not the same thing. I see them as two separate worlds, and they should not be conflated. If they are, many problems arise. To put this into understandable terms, money is a reflection of the way we behave. It comes into being when people buy and sell things. This is pretty obvious in the example of a Local Exchange Trading System, known as LETS. In a LETS we issue money by buying something; moreover, when we buy and sell things, we’re meeting one another’s needs. This is rock solid economics: Money is related to meeting one another’s needs. And it is done through trade.      ... Read More

 

 

Why We Need Alternative Currencies

by Gwendolyn Hallsmith

 

 

"Beyond Yes and No" (2003)
by the New Economics Foundation

This is a report about the euro, but with a difference. It aims to apply the principles of the neweconomics to the vexed question of whether Britain should take part in European Monetary Union ... Read More 

 

BerkShares Local Currency on BBC (2007)

on British Broadcasting Company

 

 “Modern Greeks Return to Ancient System of Barter”
on National Public Radio

Indeed, many in debt-ridden Greece—where radical austerity measures have led to soaring unemployment, business closures and a credit crunch—are doing just that: turning to a simpler form of commerce, bartering.      ...Read More

 

“Money Makes People Less Socially Focused”
by the Stanford Graduate School of Business

 

Where Does Money Comes From?
by the New Economics Foundation

 

 

Additional Resources

• NEF Web Page on the Future of Money

• What Greece Can Learn from Latin America's Currency Revolution