A World Without Money and Interest: A Pathway Towards Social Justice and Economic Equity

1. A World Without Money and Interest A Pathway Toward Social Justice and Economic Equity Thomas H. Greco, Jr. International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 10, 2016

2. Famous Quotes • I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. — Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 • I don’t know what use any one could find for a machine that would make copies of documents. It certainly couldn’t be a feasible business by itself. — the head of IBM, rejecting the idea that became the Xerox machine. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

3. Famous Quotes • There is no likelihood man can ever tap the power of the atom. — Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize in Physics, 1923 • Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible. — Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895. • The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular? — David Sarnoff’s associates regarding the radio, 1920s. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

4. A world without money and interest is not only possible, but utterly necessary and inevitable! Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

5. The Geopolitical Facts of LifeCorporatocracyKleptocracyPlutocracy Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

6. Corporate Power —the Aliens Among Us The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism — ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. –President Franklin D. Roosevelt Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

7. CORPORATE POWER The Banking Cartel, BIS, IMF, World Bank, Trade deals The Neo-feudal New World Order Despotism PEOPLE POWER Credit Clearing Networks & Community Currencies The Butterfly Society Surrendering National Sovereignty via Privatization of Money Democracy Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

8. Modes of Exploitation • Colonialism—political, economic, financial • Monopoly and oligopoly • Market manipulations • Dispossession via enclosures and privatization of the commons • Overt slavery • Wage slavery • Debt slavery Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

9. The Money Power Give me the power to create a nation’s money, and I care not who makes its laws. —Mayer Amschel Rothschild Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

10. The essence and purpose of money • Money is a credit instrument that is • Supposed to facilitate the reciprocal exchange of value (e.g., goods and services) • In the market ------------------------------------------------------ • But money has been perverted to serve to • Centralize power and • Concentrate wealth Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

11. The Political Debt-Money Regime - Basic Elements • Credit Monopoly by the banking cartel headed by • The central bank, whose currency is granted the privileged status of • Legal tender • Credit money lent into circulation by banks at interest/usury, which requires the • Endless expansion of debt • By lending to either the private sector or the public sector. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

13. The Dominant Money System is • Unstable • Unsustainable • Inequitable • Destructive • Socially • Economically • Politically • Environmentally Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

14. Banks The Credit Commons Public sector “loans” Private sector “loans” “loans” Central Government Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

15. Pumping up Debt • Consumer seduction—Credit Cards, Enjoy now, Pay later, • Student loans • Lending for speculation • Real Estate Bubble • Stock Market Bubble Government guarantees reduce banks’ risks but guarantee their profits. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

16. The Substance of Modern Money is Credit Money typically takes the form of • Bank deposits that are created when banks make “loans,” or • Currency notes emitted by the central bank. People are losing trust in these forms of money. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

17. Resolving the predicament How can businesses, communities and nations escape the debt-trap? • Need to reduce dependence upon banks and conventional money. • By creating independent systems that provide interest-free local and domestic payment media (liquidity). Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

18. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

19. Eastman Kodak CompanyDominated the photo industry for 100 years Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

20. Digital Photography – a “disruptive technology” The First Digital Camera “that’s cute — but don’t tell anyone about it.” – Kodak management to the inventor Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

21. “Disruptive technologies” emerging in the realm of money, banking, and exchange? • Private currencies, and • Direct credit-clearing among buyers and sellers that provide liquidity outside of the banking system. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

22. Transcending the Political Debt-money System • Private currencies • Scripof the 1930’s Depression—Hundreds of kinds issued by businesses and local governments • Credito Notes—community currencies issued by trading clubs in Argentina, 1990’s onward • Provincial Currencies—Argentina, (up to 20 kinds in circulation) • Canadian Tire Money • Airline Frequent Flyer Miles • Company credit vouchers Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

23. Merchants Currency issuance and circulation The Reciprocity Circuit Currency issued Workers, Suppliers Business or Municipal Issuer Labor, services, supplies Goods & Services Goods & Services Currency extinguished Currency circulated Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

24. Key Concepts • Liquidity Ability to pay • Monetization The conversion of illiquid value to a form that can be used as a means of payment Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

25. Monetization of value • Bank monetization (indirect) • A business gets a money loan from a bank. (Promises to repay principal, plus interest.) • Direct monetization by producers • The business spends its own currency vouchers into circulation. • Later it accepts its vouchers back as payment (no interest.) In either case, the value of existing supplies takes a form that can be used to pay one another. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

26. Transcending the Political Debt-money System • Localized credit-clearing exchanges • The WIR business circle cooperative—Switzerland • Commercial (“Barter”) Trade Exchanges Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

27. Mutual Credit Issuance and Circulation Member - Issuers Member - Non-Issuers A Network of Trust Issuing members are given credit; can carry a negative account balance Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

28. Benefits of Community Currencies and Trade Exchange Credits • Provide an independent means of payment, • Reducing dependence upon borrowing from banks, • Saving interest costs, • Reducing the risk of insolvency. • Provide the local economy with supplemental liquidity, • Enabling local businesses to better compete with large corporate chains, and • Enabling more complete use of available labor and production capacity. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

29. Monetary and Financial Innovation Requires Expertise in: • Sound principles of reciprocal exchange • Systems thinking • Conditions that lead to successful innovation • The science of networks Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

30. A Glimpse into the Future • Mutual Credit Clearing Exchanges will proliferate around the world. • Standards of design and practice will emerge, • Enabling local exchanges to be networked into a worldwide web of exchange that will, • Maintain control of credit at the community level, • While providing a globally useful means of payment. Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

31. We Have the Power! Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

32. Resources Websites: http://BeyondMoney.net http://ReinventingMoney.com Books: • The End of Money and the Future of Civilization , and • Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender —by Thomas Greco • Flight From Inflation by E. C. Riegel Thomas H. Greco, Jr.