Humanity is now at a critical juncture. As Paul Hawken succinctly put it in his inspiring address to Portland University’s graduate class in May of 2009, “civilization needs a new operating system,” and fast. Many of the socio-economic rules under which we operate were created under a Newtonian worldview which failed to recognize that the earth is a living system, and that if we do not tend and support the conditions that sustain and nourish life, we end up fouling our nest.
What can governments do to address the banking crisis, remedy unemployment, poverty and ecological threats, and create conditions for sustainable abundance?
How can time-tested currency innovations such as mutual credit systems help businesses of all sizes deal with cash flow shortages and monetary instability?
What can communities do to leverage their untapped wealth and connect resources that would otherwise remain unused with needs that would otherwise remain unmet?
What can scientific and academic research tell us about how to design and implement more effective and resilient monetary systems?
What types of complementary currencies could help us overcome current obstacles to the flourishing of our educational, energy, commercial, and other systems?
The story of Banco Palmas in Brazil is a great example of how local currencies can stimulate the local economy. With the help of NGOs, people in Palmeiras, an impoverished district in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil organized and set up a community credit bank. The currency of this bank is called Palma and it is in this currency that inhabitants there sell, buy and stimulate the local economy. 1,200 new jobs have been created with a lot of dignity.
The story of Banco Palmas in Brazil is a great example of how local currencies can stimulate the local economy. With the help of NGOs, people in Palmeiras, an impoverished district in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil …
After more than 30 years of practical experience and 15 years academic research on currency issues, I am now shifting my focus and activities toward supporting and mentoring the next generation of currency researchers. I …
Is Our Monetary Structure a Systemic Cause for Financial Instability? Evidence and Remedies from Nature (April 2010)
Abstract — Fundamental laws govern all complex flow systems, including natural ecosystems, economic and financial systems. Natural ecosystems are …
The game can be played with one or several people. You can play it by yourself, with your family or a group of friends or strangers. Imagine for the duration of the game that there …
This is a glossary of terms and concepts frequently used on this site and in the book Of Human Wealth, co-authored by Bernard Lietaer and Stefan Belgin.
Barter—the direct exchange of goods or services un-mediated …
Here are academic publications of interest to people researching the field of currency:
James Stodder:
Complementary Credit Networks and Macro-Economic Stability (Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization)
This page is currently under development.
This introduction to the WAT system is an excerpt from a longer paper by Mitra Ardron and Bernard Lietaer in which they offer ways of addressing some of the shortcomings of “peer-to-peer” currencies like the …
What is the relationship between our money systems and sustainability? In this video interview, Bernard Lietaer explains that our current money system programs us into short-term thinking, and is consequently a systemic cause of unsustainability.
Abstract — Fundamental laws govern all complex flow systems, including natural ecosystems, economic and financial systems. Natural ecosystems are practical exemplars of sustainability: enduring, vital, adaptive. The sustainability of any complex flow system can be …
In 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression, the small town of Wörgl in Austria successfully experimented with its own local currency (in the form of a stamp scrip). Based on the thinking of …
