Money - The New Rules of the Game

Description

This book advocates a holistic reform of the current monetary and financial system dealing with the issues of money creation, central banks, loans, stock markets, tax justice, pension security and the international monetary system - “Bretton Woods II”. Its innovative approach presents several alternatives for each cornerstone, in addition to introducing a participatory democratic process whereby sovereign citizens can themselves determine the rules governing the new financial and monetary system. With “democratic money conventions” in each municipality, where the elements of this new money system are discussed and decided on in a participatory manner, and a federal money covenant which then elaborates a template for a referendum about the future “money constitution”, a true “sovereign” could progressively convert money from a financial weapon into a democratic tool. The envisaged democratic monetary system, by providing equal opportunities for every member of society to participate in the development of the “new rules of the game”, turns money progressively into a public good which increases the freedom for all. The new system furthermore drives the enhancement of constitutional and relational values such as human dignity, solidarity, justice, sustainability, or democracy. Money should serve life and should serve the common good. The “Bank for the Common Good” Project, which was initiated in Austria by the author Christian Felber, represents a practical example of his proposals. Front Matter ....Pages i-xix Introduction: A Coercitive and Intransparent Financial System (Christian Felber)....Pages 1-8 Front Matter ....Pages 9-9 Tamer Wanted: Who Will Restrain the Global Monetary and Finance System? (Christian Felber)....Pages 11-20 Rewriting the Rules of the Game: The Democratic Monetary Convention (Christian Felber)....Pages 21-28 The Basis: Money as a Public Good (Christian Felber)....Pages 29-33 Front Matter ....Pages 35-35 Who Creates Money? (Christian Felber)....Pages 37-40 Sovereign Money Reform (Christian Felber)....Pages 41-52 Democratic Central Banks (Christian Felber)....Pages 53-64 Solving the Problem of Sovereign Debt (Christian Felber)....Pages 65-70 Bank Lending Regulations (Christian Felber)....Pages 71-82 Common Good Oriented Banks (Christian Felber)....Pages 83-101 EU and Global Financial Supervision (Christian Felber)....Pages 103-118 Derivatives—Close the Casino (Christian Felber)....Pages 119-134 Secure Pensions (Christian Felber)....Pages 135-146 Global Tax Cooperation (Christian Felber)....Pages 147-160 Income and Ownership Caps—“Negative Feedback” (Christian Felber)....Pages 161-174 Currencies—Time for a Bretton Woods II (Christian Felber)....Pages 175-187 Front Matter ....Pages 189-189 The Path to the first Convention (Christian Felber)....Pages 191-199 Questionnaire for the Monetary Convention (Christian Felber)....Pages 201-214 Back Matter ....Pages 215-221