Modernising Money: Why Our Monetary System is Broken and How it Can be Fixed - Softcover

Jackson, Andrew; Dyson, Ben

Softcover

ISBN 10: 095744480X ISBN 13: 9780957444805

Publisher: Positive Money, 2012

Synopsis

Governments across the world have given the power to create money to the private corporations that we know as banks. Today, over 97% of all of the money used by people and businesses is created by banks when they make loans. As Financial Times economist Martin Wolf writes:

"The essence of the contemporary monetary system is the creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks' often foolish lending."

This way of creating money has led to economic instability and a financial crisis. It has produced the highest-ever levels of personal and government debt, made houses unaffordable, and driven the short-termist behaviour which is destroying the businesses, and ecosystems, on which we depend.

But it doesn't have to be like this: we can change the way that money is created. Modernising Money shows how a UK law implemented in 1844 can be updated and combined with reform proposals from the Great Depression. The combined reforms could provide the UK and any other country - with a stable monetary and banking system, much lower levels of personal and national debt, and a thriving economy.

Detailed, but accessible to non-economists, Modernising Money is written for anybody who wants to know how to create an economy that serves people, businesses, society and the environment.

About this title

About the Author

ANDREW JACKSON is a PhD candidate at the University of Surrey. He previously co-authored "Where does money come from? A guide to the UK monetary and banking system" with Josh Ryan-Collins, Tony Greenham and Richard Werner.

BEN DYSON is Head of Research at Positive Money. He has spent the last 5 years researching the current monetary system and understanding the impacts it has on the economy and society as a whole.

Edition details

• Publisher: Positive Money
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 095744480X
• ISBN 13: 9780957444805
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336