We cannot have a productive national dialogue if we think we are talking about money when we’re really talking about governance or economic policy. The beginning of a useful dialogue is to ask, What are we talking about? …

An IOU can also be a promise of value that will be created and produced in the future. It’s a subtle, but important difference when it comes to money systems, and the common frame of commodity, commodity-backed and fiat …

When we have a system growing the money supply by eight percent every year, and only a 3–4 percent increase in population and productivity, we need to get creative about ways to absorb all this money. We must consume mor…

We glorify exponential growth. Our current system plans to expand the money supply by 2 percent to 3 percent more than a stable money requires. The economy must grow to accommodate the ever-growing money supply. This me…

I’ve read about 100 books on money, including many tomes by the acknowledged experts of economics. Throughout my studies I noticed the authors overlook or minimize a vital aspect of economics one that could transform the…

A widespread awareness that something is deeply wrong with our financial and economic systems is pushing creativity. A variety of online virtual monies are popping up. They are called crypto- currencies because the money…

The term sovereign money is used to refer to three different kinds of money systems. This means the term must be explained if it’s going to be used. What is a sovereign entity? The word sovereign comes from super and re…

Life is full of the unexpected. And as the saying goes, Shit Happens. Extreme weather, bugs, blights, and disease happen. Even too much of a good thing can create devastating and unpredicted hard times. In the natural w…

A map is not the same as reality. Anytime we describe something, we are converting what may be a very dynamic and complex process into words and diagrams on paper. And, the description will matter. It will tell us where …

Our money creation system creates hard times by design in several ways. It creates artificial scarcity which results in a highly competitive, fear-driven economy. And, unfettered exploitation of natural resources creates…

Innovation is America’s golden goose, and our wealth transfer money system compromises this key to our prosperity. Too much money is a benefit as well as a burden. Benefit When there is more money than the economy needs…

This disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least, to neglect, persons of poor and mean condition, though necessary both to establish and to maintain the distinct…

The US is not a democratic republic. It cannot be. Big Money rules. We are now an oligarchic plutocracy or plutocratic oligarchy, whichever you prefer to call it (rule of a wealthy few). We gave the ruling power to a cab…

There are three aspects to the how of money creation: the tangible, the intangible, and how money is entered into an economy. This is true whether or not the actual money token itself is tangible. Hands on Every type of…

…gold and economic freedom are inseparable, that the gold standard is an instrument of laissez-faire and that each implies and requires the other. — Alan Greenspan in Gold and Economic Freedom (1966), Chair of the Fed…

An abstract, social innovation Money is a profound and extraordinary social innovation. Like language, it is abstract and social, with physical aspects (currency in the case of money, and spoken or written in the case of…

Our financial sector is primarily a male bastion. When I started working on this book, no more than 5 percent of the people taking risks in our financial markets were women. In 2018 Reuters reports that women account for…

More people means more people borrow money. A growing population absorbs some of the exponential increase in the money supply. Over the 20th century, the US birthrate slowly declined from 25 births per thousand in 1915 …

Public banking is a step toward a level playing field: let government get in on the game. Public banking can be a useful bridge, though it will not address the most serious issue in our current system: exponential growth…

Fiat is a Latin word meaning let it be done. It is generally used to mean a decree by an authority. The term fiat money means some authority decreed a certain type of money to be valid currency. By definition, money is …

Basic banking is a business like any other; a basic bank has its own capital on hand to start up the banking business, and it charges its customers a fee to cover the cost of services. The bank sets its fees, and like an…

Debt creates our money and the supply must expand, so debt must increase. To make this growth possible, bankers can create as much money as the number of available borrowers allows. Remember the exponential curve of our…

Our situation is grim and depressing and needs to be addressed NOW. Our common wealth is deteriorating and it guarantees our money. We are losing our natural, cultural, social and economic resources. For most of the las…

To avoid confusion, it is helpful to clear away what money is not. Sharing, gifts and barter are not money systems – they are resource exchange systems. Sharing and gifts Giving one’s surplus to those in need is one way…

The essence of the contemporary monetary system is creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks’ often foolish lending. — Martin Wolf, Financial Times, November 9, 201016 There is a natural immature human incl…

High prices make for hard times. Let’s review how much of your daily effort goes into feeding the money-financial wealth transfer machine. Consider the personal costs that are clearly defined: Interest on your debt – …

Yet few people not versed in banking ever dream that their money ‘in the bank’ is not in the bank; and few people versed in banking ever dream that the money which is not there ought to be there, or that it is practical…

When people are not held accountable for bad behavior, it encourages more bad behavior. This is called moral hazard. This is one reason we have laws to punish harmful behavior. However, we deliberately remove consequence…

All of the intellectual models of the new economy are about cooperation, sharing and abundance. — Hazel Henderson, Economist (1933– )1 Reforming our money system has a simple solution: on behalf of WE the people, the…

In a world governed by the pressure of organised interests, the important truth to keep in mind is that we cannot count on intelligence or understanding but only on sheer self-interest to give us the institutions we nee…

Putting money to work In addition to storage and transfer services, a basic bank may offer an opportunity to its customers to put their excess funds to work. If customers know they will not need money for a period of tim…