Do you ever wonder what the world will look like after the collapse? Would
the financiers even let this happen?
All the talk of gold, silver, and
survival tactics, gives the impression that we’ll just be left to make our
own merry way after the crash, but it’s unlikely the elites would let all
their power slip away so easily.
Indeed not - the powers that be are in fact
shaping a
new economy to rise like a phoenix from the ashes of the old.
The world is shape-shifting; we are transitioning to a new global
paradigm whereby the world economy is one of several ‘global systems’,
which can be mapped and modeled by ‘network scientists’, who are learning
how to control these systems based on
mathematically computed predictions,[1]
together with trust/risk ratings for each ‘agent’ (or ‘node’) in the
economy, garnered from various identity metrics.
Ultimately, with the
increased sophistication of cognitive computing, the system could be
controlled by Big Brother’s Big Brain.[2]
In years soon to come, if you want to freely
surf the net, you’ll need to log in to your
Identity Provider first.
To gain access to buildings, buy tickets, make
an appointment, anything really, you’ll have to prove who you are, and that
you can be trusted, using your
biometrics (stored on a smart card [3]
or phone) as
proof. This will be important in all transactions, because almost every
single thing you do will have an impact on the network, and must therefore
be accounted for.
In fact, our physical, mental, and virtual
selves[4]
will be our ‘assets’,[5] and will be part of the global accounting process, along with the virtual
record of all our ‘liabilities’,[6]
or negative
impact on the earth.
This process will produce our new economy; a
manifestation of the final synthesis of the ‘Hegelian dialectic’: the
communitarian ethos
of Agenda 21 places people and nature in perpetual
conflict, the spark of which creates the economy.
Think of it as a system of
social credits, carbon debits, or:
The world is full of sensors, feeding data to the matrix in real-time,
creating a virtual mirror of the real world.
All data has value, and these
values form an intricately linked network, or ecosystem. In recent years,
instead of this being merely perceived value, measurements of natural and social
capital, have been introduced to give an equivalent value, i.e. a price.
This process is accelerated by the communitarian ethos spreading globally;
that we all have rights and responsibilities,[7]
in particular to serve our ‘community’ and reduce our carbon footprint.
These principles are also to be found enshrined in many digital currencies,
which are growing quickly around the world.
Thus, as our current system collapses, new currencies are being formed,
based on the value of nature, people, data and services.
Key figures in
finance are pushing this process forward; the New Economists have managed
to sway the Occupy
movement with their insistence that ‘happiness matters’, and promises of
complete reform.
Consider the current financial system so doomed it’s already dead and
decaying - the daily news stream keeps us busy picking over the bones of the
old economy.
We know full well the fiat system is corrupt; even the
mainstream media has been reeling out stories for years, tatting and sighing
over yet more greedy bankers and financial glitches.
The overall message:
this is the end of the road for fiat money, and even capitalism,[10]
and something must be done.
At the same time, other narratives are being formed, giving rise to new memes
and expectations - armed with the rhetoric of Agenda 21, the elites have
been preparing us for the ‘Great
Transition’, or transformation,
and are quietly shaping an alternative to the present economical financial
system.
The central tenets of mainstream economics have been upturned by the
New Economics, and key financiers are in agreement on three main points:
There is a need to ‘value’ natural assets, as per Agenda 21 and the push
for sustainability and social equity; metrics have been devised to measure,
then price, nature. This process is also in full swing when it comes to ‘valuing’
human, and social, capital. Human capital is how much an individual is worth
to, say, UK plc; and social capital refers to the financial returns to be
gained from the cumulative value of people’s interactions, or what they
produce as a group. The New Economists maintain these measures should
provide an alternative to GDP.
Community currencies should be promoted, financed, and nurtured, as a
means to foster innovation for commerce, and increase resilience and social
capital in local networks. Once they reach critical mass, they can be
standardized to create a digitized global common tender, such as the Eternal
Coin, a concept being investigated by the Long Finance Group.
The economy is subject to
reflexivity
- this is a concept
promoted by
George Soros who for many years has argued that we are not rational agents, as
per the current model, and that people react to others, and to events, when
making financial decisions, which in turn affects other people’s decisions,
and so on. In more recent years, a huge scientific undertaking has been
underway to study this idea, since big data has enabled computer simulations
of these complex adaptive systems. It is a multi-disciplinary area, known
mainly as the study of
complexity, using social agent simulations, etc., and is being used to
rationalize extensive surveillance (the data can be used to inform
public policy), and to make predictions about people.
The rhetoric of the New Economics has attracted a great many idealists, due
mainly to the fluffy-bunny loveliness of what it promises: world-wide
harmony, happiness, and sustainability.
But when you realize how many global
elites are advocating this system, you start wondering just what’s in it for
them.[11]
It’s important, then, to look to the consequences of such a system - how it
would be in the long run. This is about creating markets for the ‘new
capitalists’, and consolidating power over natural and human assets. It is
the only way to fully operationalize Agenda 21, and balance the ‘three Es’.[12]
All of the world, and all of her people, are to be quantified, co-modified,
and traded. It is a tool of global control, and the ‘values’ it espouses
morph horribly into cold hard equations: a price for everything.
The economic system is undergoing a controlled demolition; as part of this,
there have been lambs led to the slaughter, to serve as icons of the
collapse, and to justify the new economic system. Many popular movements are
converging on precisely this issue, and the meme of revolution is
everywhere.
However, it is vital to understand that key global
players are
funding and promoting the New Economics, and that the concepts it
espouses have been widely popularized and entrenched, especially by
George Soros through
speeches he has given for years on reflexivity, and in recent years, through
his Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET),
which is now teamed up with the
Oxford
Martin College in the UK.
INET presented their concepts to the World
Economic Forum, at
Davos.
John Fullerton is Founder and President of the Capital Institute, and
the principal of an investment firm dealing in high impact sustainable
private investments. He worked for JP Morgan for 18 years, managing capital
markets and derivatives businesses around the world, and is also executive
director of Soros’ INET.
Rob Johnson also worked for JP Morgan, and is an executive director of INET.
Both Fullerton and Johnson sit on the Council of Advisors for a think-tank
called ‘Redefine’,
which advises governments on key policy issues.
There are numerous other organisations expounding the new economics,
convinced it’s the answer to all our woes; in the UK, the nef (new economics
foundation) has been active for years, and has been working in partnership
with the
European Union. A key figure of the nef, Hazel Henderson, is a member of
the Club of Rome,[13]
which has also played an active part in promoting the new economics.
Andrew Haldane, from the Bank of England, spoke at Soros’ New Bretton Woods
conference (‘Paradigm Lost’), and has given a number of speeches in support
of the new economics.
Joseph Stiglitz is an INET Advisory Board member, and proponent of new
metrics for the green economy. Stiglitz and others in the new economics
movement have been actively involving Occupy.
…we envision a healthy planetary system of
cooperative, equitable, locally rooted, rule-based market economies
that:
Provide everyone the opportunity for a
healthy, dignified and fulfilling life
Restore and maintain the vitality of Earth's
natural systems
Grow the relationships of strong caring
communities
Encourage economic cooperation framed by
rules for enterprises and the market that reflect the public interest
and democratically determined priorities
Allocate resources equitably to socially and
environmentally beneficial uses, and
Support the democratic ideal of one-person,
one-vote citizen sovereignty.
This is the hallmark of the new economics - its
values are sound, but ridiculously idealistic.
However, there is scant
discussion of the administrative system it entails (such as intense
surveillance), nor any of the long-term consequences (which this article
will explore).
NEWGroup functions as an
informal alliance of the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) as an
initial policy think tank partner, YES! magazine as an initial media
partner, the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) as an
initial business network partner, and the Living Economies Forum as an
initial system design partner.”
Going ‘beyond GDP’
GDP (‘gross domestic product’) is the measure used globally to assess the
economic performance of each country.
At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio,
170
nations signed up to Agenda 21, which included
Article 40, meaning they,
”…pledged to overhaul GDP to reflect
infrastructure, social capital, unpaid work, and environmental assets”.
‘Going beyond GDP’
is now quite the fashion, one that extends across the board from the Agenda
21 army, to the globalist financiers, and even the Occupy movement.
This new
way of thinking is the signature of the ‘new economists’, and stresses the
need to account for externalities, i.e. to measure, and put a
price on, aspects of nature and people, and the data and services they
provide.
This process uncovers ‘hidden assets’, such as the value of
voluntary work, and benefits brought by nature, such as tourism.
This is
said to give a better picture of the overall progress a country is making;
and there are already many measuring systems (metrics) being used to
facilitate the pricing of aspects of both the green economy, and the social
economy.
The movement has gathered pace significantly over the last few years,
especially since the ‘Beyond GDP’
conference in
2007, hosted by the,
European Commission
European Parliament
Club of Rome
OECD
WWF
Speakers included:
Hans-Gert Pöttering (President of the
European Parliament)
José Manuel Barroso (President of the
European Commission)
The
United
Nations is playing a leading role in implementing this system; earlier
this year, for instance, a high level meeting on
Wellbeing and Happiness: Defining A New Economic Paradigm was convened
by the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Jigmi Y Thinley, following the 2011 UN
General Assembly motion which called on governments to promote
sustainability, happiness and wellbeing policies, rather than focus merely
on GDP.
Key attendees included Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz,
former Australian deputy prime minister Tim Fischer, UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon, HRH Prince Charles, OECD chief statistician Martine Durand, and
Indian ecological activist Vandana Shiva.
At the conference, Hunter Lovins,
founder of Natural Capitalism,
proclaimed,
We must move rapidly from words to action if
the 99% are to find a path to a future that is both just and
sustainable. One important step will be to convene an international
forum capable of forging agreement on the key principles and
institutions for a new, sustainable economic paradigm - a
Bretton
Woods agreement for the 21st century.
Also in attendance were more than,
“600
delegates, including heads of state, Nobel laureates, spiritual, business
and community leaders.”
Then, at the
UN Rio+20 summit in June, the Corporate Eco Forum and the Nature
Conservancy called for natural capital to be incorporated into accounting
systems; the initiative was backed by huge corporations, including,
The report
complements all the other initiatives which promote ‘going beyond GDP’, such
as the UN’s
Natural
Capital Declaration, which,
“…calls for financial institutions to
incorporate natural capital considerations into the risk assessment
procedures they undergo before making a loan, equity, bond or insurance
products-related decision”, and the “leaders of 37 banks, investment funds
and insurance companies” agreed to work towards this end.
Bhutan is the testing ground
for this new accounting system, and has begun to translate the values of the
‘hidden economy’, and
incorporate them into their National System of Accounts.
This involves
assigning monetary figures to nature, and the well-being of its people, as
well as the services they perform, such as caring for a sick relative.
Assigning monetary values to such natural ‘assets’ moves them closer to
becoming co-modified, as has happened with carbon.
‘Sustainability’ comes to signify the endlessly self-perpetuating stock of
natural assets: people and nature endlessly reproduce as a self-replenishing
stock of capital. Systems within systems, which can be quantified,
simulated, and manipulated.
Ben
Bernanke recently voiced agreement with measures that go beyond GDP,
asserting that the,
“ultimate purpose of economics… (is) ...to understand and
promote the enhancement of well-being.”
The appeal of the new economics lies in its apparent concern for the earth,
the health of her people, and holistic thinking, but nobody’s thinking about
the damage to our health caused by surveillance and rationing.
Agenda 21ism
is leading to a system of imposed individual allowances, and monitoring of
populations to assess well-being. This will rely on citizen
surveys,
self-reporting, and bodily sensors.
Are we all to be subject to regular
mobile phone surveys to assess our physical, mental and financial health?
The
United Nations Global Pulse initiative aims to harness data from sensors
and phones and perform
real-time analytics on the data to help map and understand “trends in
well-being over time”.
Partnering with Global Pulse is a company called
Jana, which has delivered mobile phone SMS surveys [14]
to millions of people in the developing world, combining the survey data
with “information about economic status, gender, age, literacy, etc.”, to
assess well-being, and help governments plan their public policies.
Collecting data on citizens’ well-being is a huge invasion of privacy, and
assigning monetary values to intangible aspects such as emotions is a big
step towards the
co-modification of the self, where what you are is what you’re worth.
There are other
steps in this direction too -
reputationrating
systems and the trade in consumer data are helping shape new values,
increasing the trend towards the monetization of identity.
As P2P payment systems grow, and people want to transact remotely, the need
to measure trust becomes a fundamental requirement.
Intermediaries are
required to facilitate this trust between peers and businesses, opening up
huge possibilities for data overlords. And of course, there are others who
can benefit from this information - perfect fodder for the policeman’s
criminal prediction machine, to name but one.
What's more, measuring trust facilitates global social control - network
science has revealed that all physical networks operate according to
universal laws, though social networks have the problem of mind (humans are
irrational creatures) and so are less predictable. Trust metrics and game
theory help the system control relationships between nodes, by increasing
the predictive potential.
The New Economics represents the
New Morality; social justice and ecological accounting are considered as
human rights, and a global responsibility - it can also be used to justify
population control.
After all, if it’s been measured, it’s scientific and
evidence-based, and therefore rational,
right?
P2P not P2B? Exploiting the Network
Like Occupy, and peer-to-peer, or
P2P, networks, community currencies currently signify ‘power to the
people’ and grassroots change that challenges the status quo.
However, it is
relatively easy for such power to be subverted by the elites, and used to
their own globalist advantage. Network science has revealed that people form
complex adaptive systems, and are naturally self-organizing.
Strong
relationships developed at the local level lead to greater
resilience, innovation, creativity and, perhaps most importantly, the
building of ‘social capital’. Businesses are already profiting from this
‘localised’ behavior - investors are turning to microfinance and
crowd-funding, as well as using the power of P2P networks to source the
right individual for the job (i.e. ‘microtasking’, for instance, Microsoft’s
Mechanical Turk).
Businesses have also been perfecting their own network resilience, with the
same networking model, only it’s B2B (business to business).
To satisfy the
demands of Agenda 21, businesses have had to enact corporate social
responsibility initiatives, and to prove how well they are doing, new
‘indicators’ have been developed, which can be used to translate
ecological and social good into dollars and cents, pounds and pence. (source,
PDF)
And large multi-nationals are beginning to consolidate networks locally, in
a way which allows them to gain tighter control over the various links in
the supply chain.
This is known as ‘creating shared value’ and is said to be
so comprehensive across society that CSR programs will no longer be
necessary.
At Nespresso, Nestlé also worked to build
clusters, which made its new procurement practices far more effective.
It set out to build agricultural, technical, financial, and logistical
firms and capabilities in each coffee region, to further support
efficiency and high-quality local production.
Nestlé led efforts to
increase access to essential agricultural inputs such as plant stock,
fertilizers, and irrigation equipment; strengthen regional farmer co-ops
by helping them finance shared wet-milling facilities for producing
higher-quality beans; and support an extension program to advise all
farmers on growing techniques.
It also worked
in partnership with the Rainforest
Alliance , a leading international NGO, to teach farmers
more-sustainable practices that make production volumes more reliable.
In the process, Nestlé’s productivity improved.
Companies are being exhorted to partner and team
up, to collaborate together to achieve the same ends.
This will take the
shape of ‘geographical clusters’, where each sphere of production is tied to
specific areas, known as ‘glocalism’,
or thinking globally but acting locally. This ‘integrative thinking’ creates
‘communities of interest’ - shared value and common goals - at the local
level, creating more resilient networks for international operations.
In ‘Viral By Design
- Teams in the Networked World’ (Harvard Business Review
blog; April 2, 2012), Zachary Tumin and William Bratton
discussed “collaboration in the digital age”, focusing on the successes
of
Kony 2012 as well as “the OMGPOP team's March 2012 breakout of
Draw Something, a
Pictionary-like game”, which are used as evidence of the power of viral
marketing.
They argue,
“From Nikes to K-12 curricula, drone strikes to personalized medicines,
teams can mass produce unique solutions for anyone”.
Now Google has launched ‘Solve
for X’, which crowd-sources innovation to solve “global problems”.
Even
the
police can benefit from crowd-sourcing of reports on ‘suspicious’
behavior, with initiatives like ‘see
something, text something’.
One of the main benefits of crowd-sourcing for corporations is that it
capitalizes on ‘hidden assets’, such as un-utilized skills and knowledge.
This network exploitation is now being extended to
digitized community
currencies.
Digital Currencies
Don’t be fooled by the promise of empowerment offered by
community currencies (CCs), because as long as they are digital, that
power can be usurped.
We need real cash to avoid being tracked and
traced. Keep in mind also the way the system would play out if CCs were
to proliferate globally - yes, the system would collapse, but in its place
would come the mediators and governors to manage the relationships between
the nodes of the network, the key function of which is trust (risk) - and
this can be largely controlled by aggregating identity credentials and
reputation ratings, and using network science to make predictions and
control the network.
They are digital! All transactions can be tracked and traced! No more
cash!
Using digital money promotes the use of smart phones and identity
management.
They are expected to dominate the current system; once there are plenty
in operation, and people want to do business with someone from outside of
their community, the banks and/or telcos will be ready to step in to offer
exchange platforms/trust mediation.
When all currencies are based on the values of Agenda 21 (i.e. doing
social good, and reducing the carbon footprint) they all represent the same
thing. As Stan Stahlnaker (creator of Ven) has said, the currencies would
then acquire a singular value, and become one global currency.
The community currencies are resource-based, and of all the many
‘indicators’ or metrics used to assess value in resources, there is one that
could do the job of them all: ‘emergy’ (see below).
The elites want to eliminate cash, and are funding and promoting
community currencies, which will create a fully digitised
network of networks, and enable analysis through global systems science.
The drive to eliminate cash and make all payments electronic has been
stepped up since the formation of the
Better Than Cash Alliance, which claims to be empowering people in
developing countries “one transaction at a time”.
The Alliance is made up of,
Visa
Citi
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
the Ford Foundation
Omidyar Network
U.N. Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
the U. S. Agency
for International Development (USAID),
...and is calling on governments and the
private sector to “commit to make the transition”:
Peru
Kenya
Colombia
Republic of Philippines,
...have already committed.
Kenya has Mpesa; Ghana has
Tigo; whilst in the Phillipines they are using G-Cash.
Whilst the developing world is using national digital currencies, in the
West there is a proliferation of regional (grassroots, resource-based)
currencies formed to serve a local community.
The most well-known virtual currencies are those which are global, and
include Bitcoin, and virtual credits gained from online games and brand
affiliation.
The European Central Bank has just released a report [15]
into these currencies, (‘Virtual
Currency Schemes’; October, 2012), in response to the impact the new
currencies are having on the ‘real’ economy.
The ECB is concerned that the
currencies have no legal status, and are issued by private companies,
thereby excluding the central banks, and bypassing regulation:
Virtual currency schemes are relevant in
several areas of the financial system and are therefore of interest to
central banks. This, among other things, explains the ECB’s interest in
carrying out an analysis, especially in view of its role as a catalyst
for payment systems and its oversight role.
The report concludes that the main risk posed by
these currencies is damage to the reputation of the ECB as a result of them
being used by criminals - and that although it is not the legal duty of the
bank to take action, it is felt the ECB has a responsibility to examine
developments and make,
“an initial assessment” of virtual currencies, due to
the “characteristics shared with payment systems”.
This refers to the
interaction, or interplay, of the two monetary systems; the more this
happens, the more need will be felt to intervene - virtual currencies have
attracted the attention of the law, and the
military.
However, it is far more important to turn attention to the localized,
thoroughly value laden,
community
currencies which have sprung up across 38 countries. There are now over
500 of these currencies, which are felt by those who participate to free
them from the system, and give them back their power.
They make use of
skills in the community to fulfill public services,[16]
and strengthen ties in the local network. They are also being heavily
promoted by the new economists, along with the tenets of Agenda 21, i.e. the
need for social equity (and cohesion) and the need to ‘be green’.
The
Brixton Pound, for instance, uses the Monea ICT platform, which is a
partnership between nef, the Transition Network [17]
and QOIN (a Dutch CC
foundation).
Community currencies fit in perfectly to the green economy
(save the earth), and the social economy (the good of the collective) - all
aspects of which are currently being measured then costed. In other words,
these intangible aspects are already part of the ‘real’ economy, and are set
to become co-modified, as has happened with carbon.
Stewart Wallis from the new economics foundation
presented the Brixton
pound at Davos this year, noting that his organization has been the most
involved in getting governments to measure well being.
…design, develop and implement community
currencies across NW Europe; providing a rigorously tested package of
support structures serving CC-practitioners and the general public.
Knowledge transfer across the partnership will drive the innovative
development of a centralized, formalized and empirically driven set of
tools that can be picked up and used by various governmental and
non-governmental actors at a community level, and that provides a
rigorously tested package of support structures to facilitate the
development of CCs across NWE and promote CCs as a credible vehicle for
achieving positive outcomes.
Community currencies have also captured the
interest of the Long Finance Group,
whose sponsors include the City of London Corporation, the Qatar Financial
Centre, and Gresham College.
With a focus on sustainability (the long term), the group is
seeking the answer to the question ‘When would we know our financial
system is working?’
Running four programs - the London Accord, Financial
Centre Futures, Meta-Commerce, and the Eternal Coin - the group plans to:
expand frontiers
change systems
deliver services
build communities
Last year the City of London Corporation and
Recipco released a
report called, ‘Capacity Trade and Credit: Emerging Architectures for
Commerce and Money’, which examined multilateral reciprocal trade amongst
businesses, from which new currencies have arisen.
In other words,
business
barter works according to the same principle as CCs, in that a network
of connected and interested entities exchange goods and services with each
other instead of using money. Capacity trade has helped give rise to
exchange platforms, which act as intermediaries between companies; they
assess the value of the goods or services available, matching the needs of
one business to another.
The process of assessing value has given rise to a standardised unit of exchange between companies, i.e. a form of currency.
Recipco, for instance, is a private
firm which offers a platform for capacity exchange - businesses can barter
goods and services with each other, instead of using fiat money. This can be
done to get around the problem of firms not having enough funds to pay for
what they need at the time, as well as freeing them from transaction costs.
Another advantage is that businesses can make use of ‘idling capacity’ - there are times when empty offices or hotel rooms are lying empty, or skills
are being under-utilized, so exchanging them with another company that can
make use of this capacity increases profits, with both fiat, and CSR, value.
To facilitate intermediation between businesses, Recipco has developed a new
“liquid unit of exchange” called the “Universal
Trading Credit”, or UTU - a commercial community currency:
The social purpose aspect of Recipco's
business is paramount to its success.
The Company's Universal Trading
Unit (UTU) is designed to serve as a unique trusted unit for the
exchange of value that addresses many of the systemic issues in the
current global monetary economy and is capable of increasing the sources
of capital for individuals or organizations with real economic capacity.
The UTU meets many of the demands for a universally accepted unit of
exchange, and as such, carries with it a potentially significant global
social impact, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive, fair and
just economy.
Over the past few years, as part of the Company's social purpose
development, the Company has compiled an impressive Advisory Board and
management has commenced relationships with a number of leading global
charitable and social purpose organizations including the United
Nations, the Carter Center, Youth Business International and the Clinton
Global Initiative.
Reciprocal trade has been around for decades.
The
WIR (Wirtschaftsring) was formed in 1934 in Switzerland, making it one
of the oldest complementary currency systems in existence. There is also the
World Currency Unit (WOCU),
and Ormita, which is “the world’s
largest multilateral trading system”.
However,
neither
Ormita nor the WIR wish to be members of the International Reciprocal Trade
Association.
Ormita, Recipco, and the new economics foundation, were amongst a few dozen
organizations represented at the capacity trading roundtable organized in
response to the City of London Corporation’s
update to last year’s
report (‘Capacity Trade and Credit: Update’), which concluded,
… multilateral reciprocal trade using common
tender is an emerging sector with the potential to create complementary
credit systems alongside traditional financial credit.
These systems
should increase trade and contribute to sustainable economic growth
based on productive capacity rather than credit provided by banks, and
could generate wider social benefits.
The report also found that a
clearer, more solid regulatory framework might encourage more rapid
development of the multilateral reciprocal trade sector.
The update report also examined
some of the many
community currencies that have been springing up in response to the
financial crisis:
EU-wide research is underway to assess the
impact of complementary currency systems in specified cities. The two
year project includes the Monea partnership (QOIN, nef and the
Transition Movement).
NESTA is also granting research funds
including one to examine platforms and mechanisms that promote
reciprocity - for example the use of time credits, points systems or
other complementary currencies to create a more reciprocal relationship
that values giving and incentivizes people to volunteer and get
involved.
Another grant will be given for research into platforms that
make use of idling capacity, for example models, market places and
enterprises that enable people or organizations to share, exchange and
redistribute assets, skills and resources, particularly where these can
be shown to build relationships and social capital to deliver public
benefit.
It was also revealed that a team of delegates
representing the UK government would be visiting Switzerland to find out
more about the WIR Bank.
A whimsical impulse is said to have spurred Adrianna Huffington to set up
the ‘Move Your Money’
project, which is campaigning to get people to,
“move their money to local
financial institutions like small community banks and credit unions”,
...in a
bid to reduce support for the 'too big to fail' banks which caused the
“worst financial crisis since the Great Depression”, and to take back the
power into the hands of the people.
Emergy does it all
The Long Finance Group has many more fascinating areas of innovation they
are exploring, such as the “eternal coin” and “confidence accounting”, all
of which fit with the concepts proposed by the New Economists, and at their
Autumn
conference[18]
this year, the focus was on “green growth and global health challenges”:
how
to measure
well-being, in terms of ‘going beyond GDP’.
Denis White, from Oregon State University (and a former researcher at US
EPA) gave a keynote address
on 'emergy’ [19] (“Energy & Emergy - Measuring Well-Being Among Nations”) and how it can be
used as a universal accounting unit, which can be used to indicate a
country’s level of sustainability and self-sufficiency.
Based on the laws of physics and thermodynamics, emergy is understood as
“the available energy required directly and indirectly to make something” or
produce work.
The theory is derived from energy systems principles; for
instance,
The food chain can be thought of as an
energy transformation chain. At each transformation step some energy is
degraded and some is passed to the next step in the chain.
It deals with networks within networks,
facilitating understanding of their complexity, and thus control of the
systems.
There are a bewildering array of
indicators currently being used to
assess the value of natural and human capital, each with its own special
application; the most widely used include the Human Development Index (UNDP),
the Happy Planet Index (new economics foundation), the Environmental
Performance Index (Yale & Columbia Universities), and the Ecological
Footprint (Global Footprint Network).
However,
emergy, or “energy memory”, provides one single unit of measure enabling
full accounting of all goods, services and information in terms of their
environmental, economic and social impact.
This unit of measure can
therefore be used to assess anything, from the micro- to the macro-level: a
“solar
emcalorie” is proposed as the basic unit of measurement for all
ecosystem processes, such that wind energy has a value of 1,500 solar
emcalories, whilst:
Emergy research (supported by the United Nations Environmental Program) was
presented at this year’s Tesla conference, which looked at resource-based,
or energy, currencies, which described how an individual allowance can be
calculated for each person, based on the size of the global population.
This
is called a “solar
share”, or personal limit, which those in the Western world are vastly
exceeding:
“the average USA citizen consumes 4.2 E 16 solar emjoules per
year, which is 19 times more than their global allocated allowance.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published an emergy analysis
of West Virginia in 2005, in which it was
explained:
The annual emergy flow per person is
hypothesized to be an index of the overall standard of living that
includes environmental and economic contributions to the quality of
life. This assumes that the people living in the system actually benefit
from the energy used there.
Quality of life is also indicated by the emergy in electricity use as a fraction of total use.
This ratio is a
measure of the relative importance of the higher transformity activities
of people, and therefore, it should be correlated with the contributions
of technology to higher standards of living.
A wealth of research [21] was also
presented at the 7th Biennial Emergy Research
Conference in January, 2012.
Emergy really does tick all the boxes the new economists require:
measurements of anything, so there would be no need for lots of different
measurements, or years of standardization. Also, it embodies all the
findings of network science, such as the
self-organizing principles of networks,
hierarchies, and complexity, making it ideal for social agent simulation
and new economy accounting methods.
Emergy also deals with
life cycles , which fits the bill of the “cradle-to-cradle”[22]
design concept, which encourages the use of biomass in manufacturing,
because it is part of the overall ecosystem cycle. This is part of a trend
towards bio-mimicry in science.
It would seem that Howard Odum was a
visionary - although he could not have known about the future advances in
computation and mathematical algorithms, it was over thirty years ago that
he wrote,[23]
[Humanity] is embedded in a complex world of
confusing cues threatening to overwhelm [us] psychologically as much as
physically…
Science is unlikely to help if it continues to focus on
atoms and the short term.... complexity must be reduced to essentials if
complexity is to be overcome as an impediment to understand and correct
action, and this means modeling.
The specific tool envisioned is
overview models that are macroscopic in viewpoint but minidimensional in
complexity - 'macroscopic minimodels' ...
Just as an artist seeks to
capture an impression of what he views, scientists also must find ways
to suppress detail and formulate the subjective qualitative essence of
facts and figures.
Transitioning
As P2P culture thickens, the banks seem poised to lose their power;
community currency activists believe they are bypassing the system and just
won’t need banks any more.[24]
Andrew Haldane, Executive Director
for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, [25] asserted in
a
speech earlier this year,
With open access to borrower information,
held centrally and virtually, there is no reason why end-savers and
end-investors cannot connect directly. The banking middle men may in
time become the surplus links in the chain.
Where music and publishing
have led, finance could follow. An information web, linked by a common
language, makes that disintermediated model of finance a more realistic
possibility.
However, once there is a tipping point, where
alternative currencies are being used more than fiat money, the need will
arise for intermediaries, who are able to facilitate trust between agents - people will need a third party to assess risk levels, and to verify
identity.
Stalnaker believes that a variety of currency/credit systems operating
together will create “a richer tapestry of value sets”: when these have
reached critical mass, the lead will naturally arise for,
“an exchange system
that can calculate relative shifting value between entities on a P2P level”.
In 2000,
Tobias Kiefer
anticipated the growth of internet payments, in "The Future Role of Banks in
Electronic Commerce - Trust as the Crucial Factor of Success in ‘Business
Enabling’"[26] and the way this would affect banks:
From a strategic point of view, e-commerce
therefore requires the banks to think back to their primary functions:
not as a 'one-size-fits-all' modern service provider, but starting from
the origins of the banking industry and from developments in industry
around the turn of the century.
On this basis, a functional service can
then be developed whose content and function will, in all probability,
largely resemble traditional banking business: the transformation of
trust, maturities and risks.
Sure: there is a kind of chicken-and-egg
problem, because the transaction partners need matching technologies and
codes.
But banks with their inter-bank relationship and the evolutionary
bank-customer relationship should have a large potential to penetrate
this market. Despite all the technological advances, the laws of
economics and their implications ultimately remain unchanged.
Tomorrow's
banks will be obliged to assume (core) functions that can be subsumed
under the heading of "trust mediation".
Ideally, their position as
'trust mediaries' will offer the market something that rarely ever
exists in practice: a genuine 'winwin' situation for the originating
transaction partners and the intermediaries alike.
Identity management, and the technology is
relies on, are at the heart of this issue.
Trust is assessed from identity
credentials, and online rating systems, as well as any clues garnered from
the digital footprint.[27]
We are living through the time of transition - a complete restructuring of
the global financial architecture is in full swing, spurred on by the New
Economists, who have been
sweet-talking the Occupy activists into promoting the green economy and
the social economy, promising the end of interest, and ensuring
accountability by controlling risk and fraud.
Stipulating individual allowances is Agenda 21 extremism, yet to come.
However, after decades of corporate social responsibility programs, the buck
is now being passed down to us, so that we will all bear the
individual
accountability to contribute to our own, and
each
other’s,[29] well being, and to the health of the earth.
Doing so will earn us credits and offset our liabilities in the new
accounting system. The main aim of this global governance structure is to
control the overall balance of the global ecosystem, as part of the ‘social
credits, carbon debits’ system of rights and responsibilities[30]
- the communitarian way.
It may be what the elites have in mind but
we don't have to endorse it because it ‘sounds good’. It didn't work
when it was tried. It won't work in the future. Command-and-control
schemes never do.
Believe in your truth and keep trying. For the
power is in our hands: we are the matrix of eternal light.
This message will travel.
Blessed be the earth, and blessed be we.
And the power is in our hands to change the course...
Notes
A form of “Agent Based Computational Economics” (ACE)
Article on this to come!
“Using
smart cards with biometrics results in a trusted credential for
authenticating an individual’s identity using one-to-one biometric
verification. With the biometric template stored on the smart card,
comparison can be made locally, without the need for connection to a
database of biometric identifiers.”
identity credentials, reputation ratings, well-being, etc.
If we are fit and healthy, and not a burden upon the network!
A binary world – it’s either good or it’s bad.
(with the emphasis on the latter)
Or ‘trusted
service manager’, a service which is centered round the secure
element (i.e. NFC-enabled SIM).
Governments have been funding huge amounts of
research on trust mechanisms, and related issues such as
reputation, as these are the crucial aspects of online interaction.
In fact, Japanese researchers
report that “… our brains neurologically compute personal
reputation to be as valuable as money”.
Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic
Forum, reflected the calls coming from every direction when he
declared: “Capitalism, in it’s current form, no longer fits the
world around us. We have failed to learn the lessons from the
financial crisis of 2009. A global transformation is urgently needed
and it must start with reinstating a global sense of social
responsibility.”
(unless you choose to believe the ‘raising of consciousness’, or
opening of hearts, extends to the global elite.)
The objective of Agenda 21 is to balance: 1) the environment, with
2) the economy, and 3) equity.
“…we
need an economy whose aim it is to facilitate a sustainable world
for all; whose success is measured in growth of human happiness…” (Club
of Rome)
Phone credits were used as incentives.
with case studies on Bitcoin and Second Life.
such as the UK’s Big Society program (group responsibility).
“There
are more than 500 Transition initiative community groups in 23
European countries (more than 1000 groups worldwide) who are working
on the "transition" to a low-carbon, socially-just future.”
Andrew Simms, previously The Other Economic Summit (TOES), and now
with the new economics foundation, was one of the speakers.
This system was originally designed by Howard
Odum. Over the decades, it has embraced a cross-disciplinary
approach (including complexity modelling,) to deliver a measuring
tool which accounts for renewable and ecosystem resources, as well
as “human labor, societal services and information”, seeing the
bigger picture of global information flows forming a complex
ecosystem (network of networks)
Hazel Henderson (a speaker at the conference, is a member of the
Club of Rome and the new economics foundation. She also founded
Ethical Markets, and helped develop the Calvert-Henderson Quality of
Life indicators.
“cradle-to-cradle”
is a biomimetic design, aimed at overseeing the whole process of
manufacture, as a complete living system. It is supported by Vandana
Shiva, the famous Indian ecologist. However, it has been claimed the
processl means we won’t have to worry about planned obsolescence,
but
certification permits biomass to be counted as a renewable,
which, as well as other problems, encourages the displacement of
peoples as land grabs are made in anticipation of large scale algae
farms, etc.
"Macroscopic Minimodels of Man and Nature", Systems Analysis and
Simulation in Ecology, B. Patten (Ed.), 1976.
The
Telegraph recently reported that “The UK Government is
encouraging alternative finance. Last week, it announced four
peer-to-peer lenders would be given a total of £55m, which will be
matched from private sources.”
He is also a member of the Basel Committee
ECIS 2000 Proceedings. Paper 19.
“With every trade we make, comment we leave, person we flag, badge
we earn, we leave a reputation trail.” (Rachel
Botsman)
and Anonymous will usher in the ‘need’ for global identity
management.
The values for this are promoted by the
Zeitgeist movement, along with all Agenda 21 programs.
