Rethinking Money:How New Currencies Turn Scarcity Into Prosperity

Description

As the United States struggles and the economies of Europe stagger, we fail to see a way out of this agonizing cycle of repeated financial meltdowns. In fact, there are thousands of ways to solve not only our recurring fiscal crises but our ongoing social and ecological debacles as well. Solutions are already in place where terrible problems once existed. The changes came about not through increased conventional taxation, enlightened self-interest, or government programs but by people simply rethinking the concept of money. With this restructuring, everything changes.

In this visionary book, Bernard Lietaer and Jacqui Dunne explore the origins of our current monetary system—built on bank debt and scarcity—revealing the surprising and sometimes shocking ways its unconscious limitations give rise to so many serious problems. But there is hope. The authors present stories of ordinary people and their communities using new money, working in cooperation with national currencies, to strengthen local economies, create work, beautify cities, and provide education—and so much more is possible. These real-world examples are just the tip of the iceberg—over 4,000 cooperative currencies are already in existence.

The book provides remedies for challenges faced by governments, businesses, nonprofits, local communities, and even banks. It demystifies a complex and critically important topic and will strike a deep chord with readers eager to find innovative, meaningful solutions that will do far more than restore prosperity—it will provide the framework for an era of sustainable abundance.

About the Author

Bernard Lietaer has been a leader in the field of money for more than thirty years as a central banker, a fund manager, a university professor, and a consultant. In 1992, BusinessWeek named him “the world’s top currency trader.” A codesigner of the European Currency Unit—the precursor to the euro—he is currently a research fellow at the Center for Sustainable Resource Development at the University of California, Berkeley.
Jacqui Dunne is an award-winning journalist and founder of Danu Resources, an emerging leader in helping entrepreneurs develop technologies and initiatives that restore the earth. The company is an interface between donors and projects. Danu’s unique value is its ability to work from a future reference point that draws out the greatness and builds upon the strengths of all parties, creating a flourishing paradigm shift for a quadruple bottom line: people, planet, profits, and power within.