My latest article in Medium

Posted on April 22, 2020 | 8 Comments

The global money system: not the kind of normal we should get back to describes the urgency, and the opportunity, of ushering in a new, more equitable and sustainable economy based on the deployment of the innovative mechanisms of exchange and finance that I have long advocated. We need to ask ourselves what it is that keeps us on the treadmill. We try to get ahead but so often we end up simply standing still or falling farther behind. We are all chasing after that thing that everyone demands from us–money. The problem is that there is never enough money in the right places to fairly distribute the vast amount of wealth that the economy produces. What if we could all stop chasing after money? Money scarcity is an artifact of the interest-based, debt-money regime. Better means of exchange are available; we simply need to organize and use them.

This entry was posted in Developing Alternatives, Emerging paradigm, Exchange Design, Global Economy and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

8 responses to “My latest article in Medium”

  1. David Ryal 'Pug' Anderson | April 23, 2020 at 11:03 am | Reply

    Hi Thomas-
    Fan & fellow alt-money consultant here — have you tried out Simbi.com? Love to hear your impressions & possibly have your help from an advisory standpoint!

    Like

    • Thomas H. Greco, Jr. | April 23, 2020 at 4:51 pm | Reply

      Pug, I took a look at is some time ago but don’t remember much. Can you describe in 400 words what it is, what it does, and how it fits into what you know of my agenda?

      Like

      • David Ryal 'Pug' Anderson | April 24, 2020 at 10:33 am |

        Of course! Simbi is a platform for individuals to exchange services using a fiat currency of “Simbi credits” (it also has the feature to exchange goods, but they aren’t used much since shipping also costs dollars).

        In any system like this, the details of creation & distribution are where the rubber meets the road. Simbi isn’t perfect yet (its credits have traditionally been created primarily through bonuses for signup, referral, etc.), but since taking over operations, we are updating those critical structures — i.e. for credit creation: we are piloting a system where verified nonprofit organizations reward volunteers for their causes with newly-created simbi credits to be spent elsewhere in the economy. Over time, this will turn Nonprofit Orgs into Simbi’s “central banks” — it’s a feature I’m very excited about & so far has had nothing but positive feedback, but I’m quite interested to get your detailed take on that & other similar ways to to advance the non-debt economic agenda. 🙂

        Links for further “Simbiotic” exploration:
        https://simbi.com/economy (transparent credit supply, velocity, etc. dashboard — requires login)
        http://blog.simbi.com/expenses (open source monthly budget — public)
        https://simbi.com/howitworks (user process overview — public)

        Thanks for being open to a discussion! (I also have done lots of work in piloting timebanks for individual orgs using WordPress+plugins, so maybe there are also other issues/opportunities for us to discuss?)

        Like

      • Thomas H. Greco, Jr. | April 24, 2020 at 7:39 pm |

        Pug, I appreciate your efforts to create better ways of exchanging goods and services but you need to understand the fundamental purpose of a currency and the proper basis of issue.
        See my replies to Albert Leger’s questions at

        Credit Clearing – Pure and Simple

        Like

      • David Ryal 'Pug' Anderson | April 24, 2020 at 7:55 pm |

        I’ve now read your replies to Albert’s questions, and I don’t see how they address your perception that I don’t “understand the fundamental purpose of a currency and the proper basis of issue” — I have consulted on many timebank and other digital currency projects, and feel that I understand these concepts very deeply, but since you didn’t offer any response specific to what I laid out, I can only conclude that you don’t feel an actual discussion is worth your time. Perhaps if I offered dollars. The irony! Have a great weekend.

        Like

      • Thomas H. Greco, Jr. | April 27, 2020 at 7:18 pm |

        I’m sorry if I’ve hurt your feelings. My time and energy are very limited and I’m already spread too thin. You could offer any amount of dollars but that would change nothing.

        Like

  2. Nigel Martin | April 23, 2020 at 4:13 am | Reply

    I agree with you Tom. The Coronus Virus and the consequence of the lockdown is destroying the economy as we know it. Local Exchange Trading Systems might achieve supremacy over the rubble of the present monetary order.Let us hope! Positive Money reports that Government money has been created without involving the banks purchasing Treasury Bonds.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Pingback: My latest article in Medium — Beyond Money – New Human New Earth Communities

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.