Beyond Money

In this edition

• October 2016 Tour Report
• 2017 June Workshop in Greece
• Global monetary system is headed over the cliff—An Open letter to Jim Rickards
• Solar Dollars
• Geopolitics

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October 2016 Tour Report

During my October 2016 tour, I gave three presentations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was a panelist at the Mitzas Festival in Sardinia, Italy. Two of the Malaysia presentations were at the International Forum on Inclusive Wealth, and the third was an extended presentation and discussion (on October 10) at the Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies titled, A World Without Money and Interest: A pathway toward social justice and economic equity. The latter can be seen in its entirety on YouTube at https://youtu.be/8BejigzDAVY. The audio only can be found here, and the slide show used in my talk can be viewed here.

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2017 June Workshop in Greece

It’s time to get on board for my 2017 summer workshop, Monetary and Financial Innovation for the New Economy. The workshop will run from 16 to 23 June, 2017 at the Alexandros campus of the Kalikalos Holistic Summer School on the beautiful Pelion peninsula in Greece. This is a chance to gain a deeper understanding of the principles of reciprocal exchange, basis of currency issuance and credit allocation, and to engage with like-minded peers to explore innovative designs and strategies for their implementation. All of this while enjoying gourmet quality vegetarian meals, fresh mountain air, and Aegean beaches at bargain prices.

I will again have the assistance of Matthew Slater, and there will be a guest appearance by Prof. Jem Bendell of Cumbria University (UK).

Space is limited so register now at http://www.kalikalos.com/community/x/exchange-finance-new-economy-thomas-greco/.

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Solar Dollars

 If you’ve so far missed hearing about it, you might want to have a look at my Solar Dollar white paper. It describes a way to create more liquidity in a local economy while at the same time providing incentives for a local utility company to generate and sell more energy from renewable sources. Solar Dollars are a win for the environment, a win for the utility company, and a win for the local economy. The implementation of a Solar Dollar currency will involve a partnership with an electric utility company somewhere and the support of local merchants, but by issuing Solar Dollars in the way that we prescribe, their value and general acceptability as a payment medium will be unquestioned. The full description can be found at https://beyondmoney.net/2016/08/26/solar-dollars-a-private-currency-with-multiple-benefits/.

One of my long-time colleagues in Germany was so impressed with the Solar Dollar proposal that he graciously took the trouble to translate the white paper into German. We’ve retitled the German version, Sonnen-taler (meaning “sun thaler,” the thaler being a silver coin that circulated in Europe for over 400 years and from which the word “dollar” is derived). That translated document, in Word format, can be found at https://beyondmoney.net/recent-articles/sonnen-taler/; the PDF version is at http://wp.me/a43RA-Kf.

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Global monetary system is headed over the cliff—An Open letter to Jim Rickards

Here is a letter I recently wrote to well-known author and investment advisor, Jim Rickards.

Hello Jim,

I’ve recently read your books, Currency Wars and The New Case for Gold. Your analysis of the global situation and financial instability are largely consistent with my own views, and your perspectives based on your high level contacts in government, banking and finance have been helpful.

I strongly agree with your conclusion that “the global monetary system is headed over the cliff” and that there seems to be, in “policy circles,” little cognizance of it or willingness to embrace solutions. Quite clearly, the control of money has enabled the centralization of power and concentration of wealth that is now reaching extreme proportions. That is why I have devoted most of my energies over the past 35 years to developing private, market-based, innovative systems for mediating reciprocal exchange and providing equitable and sustainable approaches to finance. I believe that reform of the global money system is not possible so we must create exchange mechanisms that do not involve banks nor require payment in dollars, euros, yen or any other political currency. There are established precedents that can be optimized and scaled up to eventually replace the present system that we agree is not sustainable.

In the face of imminent collapse of the global financial system it is not enough to try to preserve whatever wealth a few of us may already have, we must find ways to ameliorate the negative impacts of collapse and develop replacement systems before the crisis reaches the panic stage. The coming breakdown of global finance can also be the opportunity to install decentralized systems that are stable, sustainable, and work for the benefit of everyone. The most promising strategy in my opinion is to bring to market sound private and community currencies and to establish networks of direct credit-clearing circles that enable traders to create their own liquidity for themselves and their communities based on the real value of the goods and services they produce and sell.

Many such circles already exist in the form known as “Trade Exchanges” or “Barter Exchanges.” These enable businesses to trade with one another without using conventional money but instead by allocating sufficient credit to members within each circle to offset their purchases against their sales. So long as a business remains a member of the circle there is no need to settle their accounts provided that their balance remains within proper bounds and there is a reasonable flow through their accounts. One such trade exchange, The WIR Economic Circle Cooperative, founded in Switzerland in the midst of the Great Depression in 1934 as a self-help organization, has been operating successfully for more than 80 years (It is now called the WIR Bank and has added conventional banking services to its activities).

While your investment advice may be beneficial to the relative few who have a nest-egg to protect, survival in the face of chaotic breakdown of social, political, and financial structures (including markets), will require more comprehensive strategies based on cooperative, decentralized, peer-to-peer approaches to reciprocal exchange and finance. Are you willing to apply your significant abilities and resources to developing and implementing them? The very survival of civilization is at stake.

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Geopolitics

Snowden, the movie.

Snowden, the movie, is more than just another expose about government malfeasance. It is an alarm, sounding loud and clear that our government has gone far astray from its founding principles and Constitutional restraints. The story goes way beyond mass surveillance.

Read Brian Wright’s review here, watch Snowden’s 10 minute presentation at https://youtu.be/Fp1q2kv8zQw, then go see the movie, it’s entertaining as well as informative.

World War is Underway

Why is U.S. power being deployed to bring about regime change in so many countries, and to what end? Why is Russia being ring-fenced by the U.S. and NATO? Why is Putin being vilified in the media? Investigative journalist Robert Parry cuts through the propaganda machine to report significant unreported facts that reveal a much different picture. Do We Really Want Nuclear War with Russia? http://ccisf.org/really-want-nuclear-war-russia/

What’s at the root of the Syrian Crisis?

Leaked e-mails from the private US intelligence firm, Stratfor, revealed notes from a meeting with Pentagon officials which confirmed that as of 2011, US and UK special forces’ training of Syrian opposition forces was well underway. The goal then was to bring about the “collapse” of Assad’s regime “from within.” Read it here.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

Having read his earlier work, I was eager to get my hands on John Perkins’ new version titled, The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. In this book, Perkins adds his voice to many others in demolishing the myth of the United States being the global champion promoting freedom and democracy throughout the world. Instead, he reports how the “Corporatocracy” has spread around the world using subtle methods of seduction and cooptation to persuade national leaders to lead their people into the debt trap from which they have no hope of escape; and when those methods fail to work, threats, intimidation, subversion and destabilization follow; and if those methods also fail, more overt military interventions are employed. Perkins recalls numerous well-know U.S.-led coups over the years, including the 1953 overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, in which the CIA has acknowledged its complicity; the 1954 overthrow of democratically elected President Jocobo Arbenz in Guatemala; the 1973 coup that deposed Chilean President Salvador Allende, as well as others. Reading this book will dispel any illusions you might still have about the purpose of more recent U. S. interventions in other sovereign countries. Besides providing a vast amount of information about the geo-political facts-of-life, Perkins’ story is deeply personal and as engaging as any well written spy novel.

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Spring is the time when many forms of life emerge anew from their dormant state. The results of last November’s elections in the U.S. seem to have generated enough “heat” to stir Americans from their complacency about the state of our democracy. Let us hope that their actions will lead to better mutual understanding and cooperative actions that promote fundamental human values.

Thomas