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Bristol Pound – is this the start of the people’s currency?

Money, Politics Comments Off

Feb 072012

I’m half way through reading Detlev Schlicter’s excellent book Paper Money Collapse, when I came across this….

A group of independent traders in Bristol are launching their own currency, with the backing of the council and a credit union.

The “Bristol Pound” will be printed in notes, and also traded electronically.

via BBC News – ‘Bristol Pound’ currency to boost independent traders.

Marvellous… and backed by our good friends at the City Council. Have they inadvertently understood the need for monetary reform? Will we start to see currencies popping up everywhere in defiance and in direct competition with the banksters cartel? Lets hope so. But I doubt it, sadly I suspect this is more about marketing than serious reform but I hope those that are involved are educating themselves on the way money has been hijacked from the people by those that wish to control and manipulate economy for their own ends however innocent or misguided they may be.

Heres some more quotes from the article

“Big companies just hoover up money from a local area,” he told me.

“Money goes into their financial system and typically out into London and into the offshore sector.”

But by definition, Bristol pounds must stay in the city. Spend a tenner in a Bristol bakery, and they must use it to pay their suppliers or staff. In turn, those companies will have to use the money within the local economy.

“We’ll be driving more business to independent traders, and ensuring the diversity of our city, which is one of the things people love about Bristol,” Mr Mundy said.

Well done Mr Mundy I look forward to hearing more

Detlev Schlichter explains why our current paper money system will collapse

Money Comments Off

Jan 202012

This Adam Smith Lecture debunks several important myths.
Firstly that our current paper money system is the norm. Its not, its exceptional, and has only been around since Nixon took the dollar off the gold standard in 1971, since then the entire world has been on an elastic ever expanding paper money system and this has never happened before.

Secondly, we dont need to have an elastic fiat paper system in order to expand the economy.

Thirdly, fractional banking creates boom and bust cycles and this cannot be avoided or managed by the state except to make matters worse i.e. by artificially propping up the inevitable and delaying and increasing the size of the bust. He makes an interesting point that fractional banking will cause this whether its on a gold standard or not, although the pure paper system is far better at creating even bigger booms and busts.

Fourthly he makes it clear that this is not a crisis of capitalism and explains that this is not capitalism at all. Its a rigged system disguised as capitalism which has stolen the control of money from those that own and need it ,i.e. the people and given it to the banksters and politicians.

His grim conclusion, after explaining that all paper money systems either end voluntarily or end in disaster, is that it will end in the latter which doesnt surprise me at all given the power the politicians , generals and bankers appear to have over us all. Depressing but I’d rather understand why we’re doomed than be ignorant so I invite you to watch and find out more.