Re: [ox-en] extrinsic motivation = coercion

I was just looking through Jordan's book release info.

I've been peripherally connected to him for 5 years through a network,
and I'm going to put a call into him.

One of his recent links on Facebook is:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/23b62bfc-338b-11de-8f1b-00144feabdc0.html

It goes over an internal study at the Fed which recommends an optimal
-5% interest rate.

Something is wrong with his newcurrency address, so if you are
curious, you can find his blog here.

He has an interesting post about interest here:
http://www.jordanmacleod.com/my_weblog/2008/11/why-all-the-interest-in-money.html

Alex

On Wed, May 6, 2009 at 4:50 AM, Michel Bauwens <[email protected]> wrote:
> [Converted from multipart/alternative]
>
> [1 text/plain]
> Diego,
>
> here's an approach that is compatible without forbidding interest:
>
> from
> http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/a-circulation-charge-against-the-meltdown/2009/05/05
>
> [image: newsvine:Social background to the events in Swat
> Valley]<http://www.newsvine.com/_tools/seed&save?u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.p2pfoundation.net%2Fsocial-background-to-the-events-in-swat-valley%2F2009%2F05%2F05&h=Social+background+to+the+events+in+Swat+Valley>
>
> A circulation charge against the
> meltdown<http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/a-circulation-charge-against-the-meltdown/2009/05/05>
> [image: photo of Michel Bauwens]Michel Bauwens
> 5th May 2009
>
>  Using the concept of demurrage <http://p2pfoundation.net/Demurrage> to
> explain monetary reform is practically unexplainable to a mainstream
> audience, but a circulation charge makes eminent sense.
>
> A brilliant policy proposal by Jordan Bruce MacLeod, the author of the *book:
> New Currency <http://www.newcurrency.org/>: How Money Changes the World as
> We Know It. *
>
> The proposal appeared in Kosmos
> Journal<http://www.kosmosjournal.org/kjo/articles/articlessub2/beyond-bailouts.shtml>,
> the following are excerpts.
>
> *Jordan Bruce MacLeod: *
>
> *“In 1932, the town of Wörgl,
> Austria<http://p2pfoundation.net/Worgl_Shillings>,
> was suffering from a 35% unemployment rate. The town’s mayor had a long list
> of projects and only 40,000 Austrian schillings in the bank to pay for them.
> Rather than spend the money on what would amount to only a fraction of the
> work that needed to be done, he used the schillings to back the creation of
> local currency with a unique feature. The money was designed so that its
> holder would pay a small fee each month to keep it valid for circulation.
> Once the fee was paid, a stamp was placed on the back of the paper note to
> certify it for exchange. *
>
> *After printing these notes, the mayor of Wörgl then used this currency to
> begin paying for public projects, thereby introducing it into the town’s
> circulation. Yet, it was only after this money was spent that the dramatic
> effects began to take hold. In less than two years from the start of the
> circulation charge, Wörgl became the first town in Austria to reach full
> employment. With the equivalent of a modest number of Austrian shillings in
> circulation, money expert Bernard Lietaer reported, “Water distribution was
> generalized throughout…. the town was repaved, most houses were repaired and
> repainted, taxes were being paid early, and forests around the city were
> replanted.” Clearly, when a town begins to experience full employment during
> a depression and citizens voluntarily decide to pay their taxes early,
> people will talk. Within a short period of time, the town’s revitalization
> garnered international attention and was branded the ‘miracle of Wörgl.’ *
>
> *The Science behind the Miracle While a part of this marked turnaround came
> from the town’s revenues in collecting fees from the circulation charge,
> this was not the most significant force behind the dramatic transformation.
> Of greater importance were the extraordinary contributions from Wörgl’s
> increasingly engaged citizens. They were enabled to transform their
> community and do what was previously thought economically unfeasible after
> the average velocity of money throughout the town increased fourteen-fold
> because of the monthly expiration date. *
>
> *In other words, with the introduction of a circulation charge, money
> changed hands fourteen times more frequently in the same period of time than
> did the national currency, the Austrian shilling. An increase in trade and
> activity of this magnitude represents a dramatic leap in economic activity
> and confidence that simply cannot be replicated by central governments
> through spending programs or tax cuts. The achievement truly was a miracle,
> yet backed by solid innovation and grounded economic strategy. Rather than
> rely on municipal governments or centralized powers, the people of Wörgl had
> created the means to take power into their own hands and directly accomplish
> things that would never have occurred solely through the meddling of
> relatively arbitrary and inefficient centralized bureaucracies. In a time of
> financial gridlock such as ours, a circulation charge also presents itself
> as an ideal economic tool to begin catalyzing lending and thereby melt
> frozen credit markets. *
>
> *In his opus The Natural Economic Order, Silvio Gesell introduced the
> concept as an economic tool to effectively solve the problems of hoarding,
> interest and inflation. It was his original thinking that served as the
> basis for the successful stamp scrip currencies in Germany, Austria and
> America during the Great Depression. His work garnered notable recognition
> and approval from many of his contemporaries, including some of the most
> acclaimed economists of the 20th century, including John Maynard Keynes and
> Irving Fisher. *
>
> *A circulation charge effectively goes to the root of these problems by
> changing the qualitative nature of how we hold money. It inherently shifts
> financial thinking towards longer time frames. It creates a natural
> incentive to lend money without the need for interest, which would mitigate
> compulsive exponential growth, lessen the costs associated with borrowing
> and investment and reduce social disparities. It is precisely by shifting
> these central financial dynamics that markets can naturally begin reversing
> the inequalities between the rich and poor, facilitate investments in
> alternative energy infrastructure and create a more resilient financial
> system. *
>
> *The implementation of a circulation charge in the global financial system
> will require profound, unprecedented cooperation between nations. Much like
> any other global instrument, it will rely on widespread adoption and
> integration to take hold and succeed. It is for this reason that the G20, as
> a relatively broad and diverse group of nations, is an excellent starting
> point for considering this tool. In addition to serving as a catalyst for
> restoring lending and confidence in markets, it would simultaneously enable
> a pragmatic shift within the financial system towards achieving the 21st
> century objectives of sustainable development and the alleviation of
> poverty. *
>
> *A circulation charge could be integrated into the financial system through
> its simultaneous adoption by several nations for their currencies. The tool
> itself, however, is more naturally predisposed to function as an integral
> part of a global currency. In fact, it could enable the realization of a
> global currency by transcending the present weaknesses in monetary policy
> that arise out of current national fiat currencies and policies. These
> limitations characteristic of today’s national economies include exponential
> growth, interest rates, hoarding and inflation. The diverse economic
> conditions of nation-states within the current economic paradigm mean that
> national monetary policies are often divergent and frequently
> irreconcilable. It is therefore only when a global currency is realized that
> the problems inherent to national currencies are likely to be resolved. *
>
> *A fully digital currency would also strongly support the efficient and
> stable adoption of a circulation charge within a relatively short time
> period. If digitized, the currency could be programmed to automatically
> deduct the circulation charge instantly, at the time of its expiry date,
> from anywhere in the world. A digital currency would also enable a faster
> velocity of money in circulation, greater control and oversight of the money
> supply and the real-time monitoring of demand. The currency itself, as we
> saw in the case of Wörgl, also carries the power to quickly restore full
> employment and effectively decentralize wealth and power into the hands of
> citizens. *
>
> *A circulation charge enables the adoption of a monetary policy of zero
> interest and the creation of a money supply equal to demand. Under such
> conditions, a global currency could transcend the limitations of national
> currencies and the arbitrary power and problems that emerge when a national
> currency, such as the US Dollar, functions as the international reserve
> currency. A digital global currency with the above characteristics could be
> far more effectively regulated by global institutions, such as a United
> Nations agency designated to oversee international currency stability. *
>
> *While the parameters of this article can merely serve as an introduction to
> a very broad and important subject, it brings to light the urgent need to
> recognize that our relationship with money is at the very heart of our
> global crisis. The consideration and implementation of the requisite
> financial tools will require the world’s leading nations to forge a common
> vision for a global economy. Integrating global values and instruments such
> as a circulation charge into the heart of their monetary policies can help
> ensure the constant circulation of money and thereby help restore economic
> activity, lending and the opportunity to catalyze a free market system far
> more aligned with solving planetary challenges. These are precisely the
> qualities that will help enable global cooperation and insulate the
> international community from the inherent dangers that are destined to
> emerge in the midst of worsening global economic conditions. *
>
> *A circulation charge also reveals the very real potential to align and
> reconcile global finance with global values and visionary thinking. Getting
> there, however, will require bold new approaches in economics and a broader
> understanding that money is a social creation of the utmost power and
> importance in our lives. Its understanding and control can no longer be left
> in the dark corners of arbitrary or centralized power. The true value of
> money in our lives must be consciously recognized and mastered by all
> engaged global citizens as a precondition for successfully enabling global
> transformation. When we do this much-needed work, we will truly hold in our
> hands the power to change the world.”*
>
>
> On Wed, May 6, 2009 at 9:47 AM, Diego Saravia <[email protected]>wrote:
>
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>>
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>> >
>> >
>> > To summarize: Interest and usury were the same thing originally, and are
>> > still the same thing etymologically and rightfully, and I for one use
>> > them as synonyms. However, there's been a lot of work put into diverging
>> > the two terms in order to, well, make it acceptable to religious freaks
>> > who think that as long as they bend the meaning of words enough their
>> > god won't kill them. If only we were so lucky.
>> >
>> > [It should be noted that I am a militant atheist.]
>>
>>
>>
>> I am too
>>
>>
>> excelent post, I do not agree to forbid interest, but I am sympatetic with
>> your point of view.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Diego Saravia
>> [email protected]
>> NO FUNCIONA->dsa-AySywPH+/[email protected]
>>
>>
>> [2 text/html]
>> _________________________________
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>> Contact: [email protected]
>>
>
>
>
> --
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>
> Volunteering at the P2P Foundation:
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>
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>
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>



-- 
Alex
I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.- Socrates
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