The truth is out: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it. Back in the 1930s, Henry Ford is supposed to have remarked that it was a good thing that most Americans didn't know how banking really works, because if they did, "there'd be a revolution before tomorrow morning".
Last week, something remarkable happened. The Crime of Fighting Poverty: Local Currency's Success in Kenya Ends in Forgery Charges. (Photo: via Shutterstock)Former Peace Corps volunteer Will Ruddick and several residents of Bangladesh, Kenya, face a potential seven years in prison after developing a cost-effective way to alleviate poverty in Africa’s poorest slums.
Their solution: a complementary currency issued and backed by the local community. The Central Bank of Kenya has now initiated charges of forgery. Complementary currencies can help eradicate poverty. Proving that may be difficult in complex economies, due to the high number of factors influencing outcomes. But in an African slum with little of the national currency available, supplying residents with an alternative currency has a positive effect that is obvious, immediate and incontrovertible.
Truthout needs your support to publish grassroots journalism and share new visions for a just and sustainable future. The project was launched on May 11, 2013. Despite these perilous circumstances, Will remains optimistic. Jamie Brown contributed to this article. Chapter 5: Introduction to Energy Backed Money. "HENRY FORD's conception of displacing gold money by a unit of energy stumbles and falls headlong on the threshold of its proposal.
"[10] - The New York Times, December 6, 1921 As evidenced by the 1921 quote above, Henry Ford proposed a form of energy backed money almost a century ago. Thomas Edison was also interested in issues of monetary policy and "the energy dollar".[11] It is inspiring that these two highly gifted individuals who both brought fourth tremendous economic progress sensed potential with energy backed money.
Energy-Backed Currency. The problem with money.
Eddie's Blog on Energy & Physics: How to Implement an Electricity Backed Currency. The Wall Street Journal has had a lot of editorials recently on gold or silver backed currencies, so I thought that I'd revisit the topic of Electricity backed currency from a prior post (which happens to be the most viewed of the posts I've written.)
So, it must be a hot topic (unlike a post at roughly the same time on the Source of exergy in the early universe.) As I mentioned in the prior post, I think that we should ground our currency with something that has value. The only thing that I can think of that has true, measurable value is electricity. This method is very similar to the process we have today, except for the fact that we would be forcing the Federal Reserve to maintain a 0% inflation rate on the average price of electricity. Pavegen. The Secret of Oz - Winner, Best Docu of 2010 v.1.09.11. Occupy Wall Street. The Rich / Poor Divide. Fiat Money. Stephen Zarlenga’s speech at the U.S. Treasury (Dec. 4, 2003)
I thank the US Treasury for inviting me.
It’s a great honor and opportunity to bring the research results of the American Monetary Institute to your attention, which are relevant to the developing fiscal crises faced by several states. The Euro is a Big Success - No Kidding. The idea that the euro has "failed" is dangerously naive.
The euro is doing exactly what its progenitor – and the wealthy 1%-ers who adopted it – predicted and planned for it to do. That progenitor is former University of Chicago economist Robert Mundell. The architect of "supply-side economics" is now a professor at Columbia University, but I knew him through his connection to my Chicago professor, Milton Friedman, back before Mundell's research on currencies and exchange rates had produced the blueprint for European monetary union and a common European currency. Mundell, then, was more concerned with his bathroom arrangements. Utah Legalizes Gold, Silver Coins As Currency. SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah legislators want to see the dollar regain its former glory, back to the days when one could literally bank on it being "as good as gold.
" To make that point, they've turned it around, and made gold as good as cash. Utah became the first state in the country this month to legalize gold and silver coins as currency. The law also will exempt the sale of the coins from state capital gains taxes. Craig Franco hopes to cash in on it with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository, and he thinks others will soon follow. The idea is simple: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings.
He plans to open for business June 1, likely the first of its kind in the country. "Because we're dealing with something so forward thinking, I expect a wait-and-see attitude," Franco said. Where Does Money Come From? Www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/quarterlybulletin/2014/qb14q1prereleasemoneycreation.pdf.