Silvio Gesell

A short clip about economist Silvio Gesell, one of the fathers of the complementary currency movement. More information at www.complementarycurrency.org.

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  News & Politics

[networkeconomy]

There is much more to Silvio Gesell's theory than this short clip. Read the Natural Economic Order, it's a rather enjoyable read. With or without banks, national currency is not a perfectly good money. A perfectly good money is designed to do what it is supposed to do, and a national currency is not designed to do that. Instead, we should have many different currencies, each designed to fulfill a range of specific exchange-related functions. Social Credit, I'm from Alberta, you must be joking!

[pooth27]

The equivalent on a national scale is the Mathematically Perfected Economy proposed by Mike Montagne. This would replace the fraud of allowing banks to print OUR money and then them asking US to pay it back to them (only for the reason that they printed it), WITH interest, is an incredible fraud that we, the people, have supported for a long time.

[networkeconomy]

....it's gone on too long, but quite clearly is near the end of its lifespan. There are many viable options out there, and congratulations to you, and all of you who have commented for seeing past the myths.

[Ray G]

They found a way to tax wealth.. The very possession of currency. not using it, or earning it.. but actually saving it. Buy a stamp every year (with REAL money) or it's invalid? wow.

Very innovative, and impressive as a 2ndary currency in a crisis.. but since it makes saving impossible, it's worthless for long term currency.

[networkeconomy]

You're exactly right, it's purpose in this case and with this design is to function as a short-term currency, up to a few years. However, similar designs have been running continually since that time, for nearly 70 years. That's the WIR economic circle in Switzerland.

[DaVinci85]

through investments in bonds or stocks.

[Landyn McCaul]

This disincentive is called demurrage.. 

[radieschen79]

No, the problem is about compound interest, that was the point Silvio Gesell was trying to make. Compound interest is the problem why so many countries (USA, Spain, Italy, Greece, Irland etc.) are in debt at the same time!

I'm really astonished why nobody realizes this.

[Janos Abel]

I have not red everything here but it seems all beside the point, which is that we have a perfectly good money but have been stolen by the private banking system.

It is stolen because the *wealth* that makes the money-tokens (physical or digital) have value is created by the borrowers not the banks who are only the record keepers.

The Social Credit proposals for a sound circulating medium of exchange are based on scientific principles and there is no need to invent competing "wheels".

[networkeconomy]

This may have happened before, when the vast majority of people were still under the illusion that there could be such a recovery under capitalism, which is really just a continual process of rebuilding the illusion that the system is stable. But what if there is no recovery? Then what?

[networkeconomy]

The issue is about solutions that work now, not solutions that will work sometime in the "long term". There is a disincentive to save or hoard, so many of the problems that would normally occur in a capitalist monetary system would not occur in this market-based monetary system.

[ishai10]

THE DEPRESSION SPREAD BECAUSE WORGL CURRENCY, AND SIMILAR VENTURES, WERE ACTIVELY SUPRESSED BY CENTRAL BANKS AND GOVT.

HAD THISNOT BEEN THE CASE, HAD THEY BEEM ALLOWED TO SPREAD, THE GREAT DEPRESSION WOULD SURELY HAVE COME TO A NATURAL END. THE RISE OF NAZISM, WWII, THE HOLOCAUST - ALL MIGHT HAVE BEEN AVERTED, AND A NEW, MORE LIBERATED AND EQUAL SOCIAL ORDER, WOULD HAVE COME TO BE.

[Skypenamenottaken]

It doesn't make saving impossible. It just prevent money from being used as savings, which it should not be able to do. Money is a medium of exchange, not a good or commodity that can be saved. Money's value comes through its use, and you can see what happens when people try to use it as a savings - the economy tanks.