World debt comparison: The global debt clock Creating Neighborhood Capital from Strip Malls Strip malls probably don't fit into the definition of progressive urbanism for most people, but maybe they should. Well, maybe after a little organizational tweaking. The small retail centers are ubiquitous in American cities, with their generic shops selling donuts or beer, offering dry cleaning or key-cutting. They're a part of many neighborhoods, but not necessarily an essential part. They bring goods and services to the area, but are ultimately of the greatest benefit to their owners – off somewhere cashing monthly rent checks from the moms and pops running the little businesses within. That model can change, according to Ava Bromberg. "It's part mall, part business incubator, part cultural hub," says Bromberg. But it's also about activating disused retail space for more than retail. This "social entrepreneurial model for commercial real estate" is the basis of Bromberg's PhD research at UCLA. One of them is Market Creek Plaza in San Diego.
Welcome - New Currency Frontiers [Carte Interactive] La Chine investit l’Europe En pleine crise financière, les liquidités chinoises font craindre des vagues d'acquisitions en Europe. OWNI a recueilli et traité les données relatives à ces prises de contrôle de la Chine. Elles dessinent une stratégie réfléchie mais mesurée. L’application interactive ci-dessus permet de visualiser l’essentiel des prises de participations réalisées par des investisseurs chinois en Europe Châteauroux, paisible préfecture de l’Indre avec ses champs environnants, sa vieille base militaire agonisante, son pâté berrichon. Et son futur “Business District”. Rachats de bons de dettes publiques, acquisition d’entreprises en difficulté, obtention de concessions portuaires, guerre des monnaies… Dans une Europe en crise, la Chine et ses montagnes de billets impressionnent toujours, effrayent parfois. Les investissements chinois doivent cependant être relativisés. Mais leur rythme de croissance donne le tournis. Mesurer l’implication de la Chine en Europe s’avère un exercice délicat. Mathias M /
Free Market Anti-Capitalism: Announcing: The Solidarity Economy Network In the past, I've written on the need for all the diverse facets of the alternative economy to coalesce into a coherent counter-weight to the corporate economy. I've argued that although the numerical weight of people and resources engaged in alternative economic and social institutions (cooperatives, complete or partial self-employment, LETS and other alternative currency and barter systems, household and informal production, community supported agriculture, homeschooling, radical unionism, alternative media, the open-source movement, Konkiniancounter-economics, etc.) were cumulatively a huge portion of the total society and economy, they were still ineffectual in bringing their cumulative weight to bear. In an early blog post, "Building the Structure of the New Society in the Shell of the Old," I wrote: The solution is to promote as much consolidation as possible within the counter-economy. Here are some of the stated goals of the new organization: 1. 3. 4.
Internet Financial EXchange (IFEX) « La dette neutralise le temps, matière première de tout changement politique ou social » - Contrôle social Basta ! : Vous dites que l’Homo debitor est la nouvelle figure de l’Homo economicus. Quelles sont les caractéristiques de ce « nouvel homme » ? Maurizio Lazzarato : De nombreux services sociaux, comme la formation ou la santé, ont été transformés en assurance individuelle ou en crédit. Le mode de développement néolibéral est fondé sur le crédit et l’endettement. Le droit à la formation ou au logement s’est transformé en droit au crédit… C’est une logique qui ne fonctionne que si l’économie est en expansion. En quoi cela fonde-t-il un nouveau rapport social, et un nouveau rapport au temps ? J’ai repris l’hypothèse que développe Friedrich Nietzsche : le rapport social fondamental n’est pas l’échange économique ou l’échange symbolique, mais le rapport débiteur/créditeur. Une dette, ce n’est pas seulement de l’argent à rembourser, mais des comportements à ajuster, du temps passé à se plier à des contraintes, écrivez-vous. C’est une nouvelle forme de contrôle. Photo/CC : Ma Gali via Flickr
View topic - 65 regional currencies in the EU soon? As people who are following the Transition Towns response to peak oil movement will know, one of the key innovations at Totnes is the issuance of their own currency, the Totnes pound. Rather than calling on the government for financial reform the Transition Town economic and livelihood group are just getting on with it and managing their own financial reform process....which is surely how things are likely to change more widely. (If we wait for the monetocracy to reform the banking system we will wait for ever.) Researching the background of the Totnes pound however I learned that in Germany and Austria (and Italy) local currencies are developing by leaps and bounds. An article in the Telegraph in January of this year explained that there are no less than 16 regional currencies already in existence and 49 further regional currencies in the pipeline. Here's the very informative Telegraph article - it makes clear that the mainstream bankers do not yet see regional currencies as a threat.
Passengers on Beijing subway pay with plastic bottles Contact us Passengers on Beijing subway pay with plastic bottles Posted on August 11, 2013 by elma ‹ What to Buy Organic Have a mosquito problem??? Michael Linton On Open Money ~ Windows Fanatics To summarize Michael Linton’s presentation at this year’s Gnomedex: A paradigm shift happens in its own time, whether we like it or not. Sometimes you can see it coming, and if that happens, it gives you a bit of room. Some time in the next few years, everyone in this room will be using open money in addition to regular money. We went from logs to wheels, which means material and mass to function. The theory of money — the general condition of money is that it is a commodity that is issued in a certain amount. Money is trickling down and pouring away. Community currencies are not replacements or alternatives for money. Markets are conversations, and if there is no money around, the conversation goes away. Money is the ultimate social network. [tags]gnoemdex7, gnomedex, gnomedex07, gnomedex2007, michael linton, open money, open source money, social money network[/tags]
Introduction | QOIN Money is a social construct, a human invention. We can redesign it to fulfil our needs. What is conventional money? Money is not a given. What are community currencies? Since money is man made, it can be reinvented to meet specific objectives within any kind of community, region or economic sector. stimulate local economic development, by localising production and consumption,build an active civil society,stimulate voluntary work,reduce costs to healthcare system,encourage sustainable consumption and improve waste separation. An ecosystem of community currencies Community currencies can be designed and executed in a many different ways. Social Currencies – time based currencies that value everyone’s contribution equally. Deepen your understanding of Community Currencies by getting in touch.
BerkShares: Local Currency for the Berkshire Region