Mr Lietaer’s presented his arguments during a lecture, hosted by the Club of Rome’s EU Chapter in Brussels, to launch the Report from Club of Rome: Money and Sustainability: the Missing Link Current monetary system is inherently unstable and destructive The Report acknowledges that money has ignited an explosion of
entrepreneurial and scientific innovation, but says it is structurally unstable and that current problems cannot be solved by simply tinkering with the system. “It would be naïve to think that innovations are magic bullets to solve all our problems. We can no longer afford to overlook new currencies that could promote sustainability”, said Bernard Lietaer.
The Report describes how between 1970 and 2010, there were 145 banking crises, 208 monetary crises, and 72 sovereign debt crises – in other words a total of 425 systemic crises - an average of more than ten each year. The current Greek crisis is simply the last in a long line.
Mark Dubrulle, President of the EU Chapter, which organised the lecture said “Almost everything is for sale in most EU countries. Austerity is imposed at all levels... We hope the book will inspire many a decision maker and opinion leader to change course.”
The solution: the creation of complementary currency systems
The Report says monetary instability could be solved by creating complementary cooperative currency systems (generically called the ‘Civic’) to work in parallel with conventional bank-debt money, counterbalancing its negative effects. It outlines eight examples of cooperative currency systems that can address issues such as healthcare, education, climate change, and employment.
Bernard Lietaer and his co-authors also suggest a solution to the current Greek/Eurozone crisis based on Greece creating
complementary urban or regional electronic currencies to run parallel to the euro which the country would retain for international business. The civic/euro exchange rate would be determined in the online market.
Interestingly, this week Deutsche Bank proposed a very similar solution – the creation of the ‘Geuro’, a complementary Greek currency to help it restore an internal competitive economy.
