I spent part of this morning watching/listening to a documentary called The Money Fix. The show is available for viewing at http://www.themoneyfix.org/content/video-money-fix.
Economists, bankers, philosophers, and barter professionals including David Wallach of IRTA share their views of money, currency, and the problems associated with interest-bearing systems of money. The Federal Reserve and the national banking system is exposed as a group of quasi-dictators who lend money they don’t have and contribute daily to the scarcity of money.
Talking currency is deep water. For someone who has never thought about currency or money prior to this, dozens of new concepts will be introduced, many of which may be hard to understand at first view. Macro views are complicated, and what is presented in the Money Fix is no exception. Even for someone like me, who has been thinking about currencies and money for ten years, some of the concepts are somewhat challenging. It is safe to say that I found the movie stimulating…
The sometimes heavy-handed treatise on currency and money proposes a number of micro scale fixes to our current currency system, but lacks a macro view fix to our worldwide currency problems. No suitable solution to the macro economic problems of a world-wide economy are proposed, and no one in the film seems to want to fix the system on the world level. Instead, community currencies and barter are presented as a means to fill the gaps in the current system at local levels.
While taking a break, I found myself asking questions like, “What about manufactured goods? What currency can transcend the boundaries of borders and governments to affect the lives of everyone? Taking advantage of market inefficiencies is a big part of the modern world. How does a community currency, or even a barter currency, replace a government backed currency so that modern manufactured goods can freely float from place to place?” I don’t have any great answers, either. Perhaps our group of currency lovers can create a good solution…
I love the pieces on barter and the idea that a complimentary currency can create new possibilities for consumers and diminishes the scarcity mentality of the participants.
Congrats to BizX for their mention. Special thanks to Alan Rosenblith, the creator, who turned me on to this video.
