Occupy Money: Creating an Economy where Everybody Wins - Softcover

Kennedy, Margrit

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0865717311 ISBN 13: 9780865717312

Publisher: New Society Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

A visionary case for a new monetary system that is interest-free, just and stable

As a medium of exchange, money is one of the most ingenious inventions of mankind, as it facilitates the trade of goods and services and allows for specialization and the division of labor. However, compound interest and inflation have caused our monetary system to balloon to the point where bailing out banks, large corporations, and even entire countries will not prevent a complete breakdown of the global economy-unless we change the system in fundamental ways.

It's time for a grassroots movement to knock conventional money off its pedestal and replace it with a fresh paradigm that puts people before profits. A guide not only for the 99% but also for the 1%, Occupy Money demonstrates that the creation of a stable and sustainable monetary system will reflect real wealth rather than the smoke and mirrors of speculative profit, thus providing an alternative to the Age of Austerity. This vision can be realized through such creative initiatives as:

• Establishing time banks and complementary currencies geared to specific services such as health and education
• Eliminating interest through interest-free loans and "demurrage", which rewards currency circulation
• Re-localizing economies through regional currencies.

For many years financial insiders have hidden economic truths by describing them in arcane terms that no layperson can understand. Occupy Money uses clear, simple and concise language to explain how money will serve people instead of people serving money, and in doing so it issues a challenge to the very foundations of conventional economic doctrine.

About this title

About the Author

Margrit Kennedy is an outspoken critic of the current global economic system and an internationally-renowned advocate of alternative regional and complementary currencies. Her book, Interest and Inflation-Free Money: Creating an Exchange Medium that works for Everybody and Protects the Earth has been translated into 23 languages and is considered a landmark work in the field of sustainable economics.

From the Back Cover

A VISIONARY CASE FOR A NEW MONETARY SYSTEM

We can create a money system that is the ally, and not the enemy, of all that is precious in the world. We can make money into something we can truly embrace as ours. That, I think, is the heart of the call to occupy money. These are hands-on solutions that are available to every citizen, without having to wait for those in power to make changes from above. ― CHARLES EISENTSEIN, from the Foreword

Inflation and compound interest have caused our monetary system to balloon to the point where bailing out banks, large corporations, and even entire countries will not prevent a complete breakdown of the global economy – unless we make some fundamental changes. It's time for a grassroots movement to knock conventional money off its pedestal and replace it with a fresh paradigm that puts people before profits.

Occupy Money makes the case for a stable and sustainable monetary system that reflects real wealth instead of the smoke and mirrors of speculative profit. This hopeful vision can be realized through such creative initiatives as:

• Eliminating interest through interest-free loans and "demurrage", which rewards currency circulation
• Re-localizing economies through regional currencies
• Establishing time banks and complementary currencies geared to specific services such as health and education.

For many years financial insiders have hidden economic truths by describing them in arcane terms that no layperson can understand. Occupy Money cuts through the confusion and clearly and succinctly explains how, rather than favoring the 1% at the expense of the 99%, we can restructure our monetary system to meet the needs of us all. In so doing, this revolutionary manifesto issues a challenge to the very foundations of conventional economic doctrine.

Margrit Kennedy's timely book provides a geography of hope for practical new money systems … these are the seeds that need to be planted in the new economic spring of well-being that is emerging. ― MARK ANIELSKI, economist and author of The Economics of Happiness

Margrit Kennedy is the author of the international bestseller Interest and Inflation-Free Money , an outspoken critic of the current global economic system and a renowned advocate of alternative regional and complementary currencies.

Edition details

• Publisher: New Society Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0865717311
• ISBN 13: 9780865717312
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 128