Creating Wealth

by Hallsmith, Gwendolyn; Lietaer, Bernard; Meadows, Dennis; Lovins, Hunter

• ISBN13: 9780865716674
• ISBN10: 0865716676
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-06-28
• Publisher: New Society Pub

Summary

Communities everywhere are challenged by issues such as health, elder and child care, housing, education, food security, and the environment. On the surface, these problems appear to be rooted in economic crisis--for example, budget cuts have triggered reduced public services, soaring food prices have created food security concerns, and the subprime mortgage disaster has spawned record increases in foreclosures and homelessness. However, if communities could match their unmet needs with their underutilized resources, many would find that while their economies may be struggling when measured in traditional terms, they possess enough genuine wealth to allow all their inhabitants to enjoy a vastly improved quality of life. Creating Wealthdemonstrates how a healthy society can be attained through developing new systems of exchange. Using creative initiatives such as time banks, systems of barter and exchange, and local currencies, cities and towns can empower themselves and build vibrant, healthy, sustainable local economies. In addition to presenting many compelling case studies of successful alternative currencies in action, Creating Wealthalso explores the different types of capital that communities have to draw on, including natural, built, social, human, institutional, cultural, technological, and financial. This book will appeal to community activists, city planners and other public officials, and anyone interested in developing strong local economies. Gwendolyn Hallsmithis the founder and director of Global Community Initiatives and the author of The Key to Sustainable Cities. Bernard Lietaeris the world's leading authority on complementary currencies and the author of The Future of Money.

Author Biography

Gwendolyn Hallsmith is the founder of Global Community Initiatives, the Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Montpelier, VT, and the author of The Key to Sustainable Cities. Bernard L1etaer is the world's leading authority on complementary currencies and the author of The Future of Money.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction: Cities And Economies	p. xv
Local Economics
What Is Wealth?	p. 3
Redefining Wealth
A Systems Perspective
The Wealth of Cities
The Myth (and Potential) of Individual Wealth
Crash and Burn Economics	p. 15
The Roller Coaster Economy
False Assumption #1: The Economy is Beyond Our Control
False Assumption #2: Money is a Neutral Means of Exchange
The Building Blocks of the Economy: How Assumptions Create Reality
The Banking System
The "Free Market" System
The Financial
Market as a System
Systems Change
The Vortex of Urbanization
Cities, Democracy and Economic Change
Community Capitalism	p. 43
Ten Types of Community Capital
Exchange as Social Change
Tools Available Today
An Ecology of Currencies
The Possibility of Sufficiency and Abundance	p. 55
Demurrage Currencies
Cooperative and Competitive Currencies
The Value of Time
The Two-Game Economy
Unmet Needs and Underutilized Resources
The Possibility of Sufficiency and Abundance
Examples of Complementary Currencies
Building Equity	p. 73
Neo-feudal Housing: The New Lords and Serfs
Sweating the Way to Equity
Saving Our Way Out of Poverty
Growing Intelligence	p. 79
Educated Indentured Servants
The Learning Currency
The Brazilian Saber
Buckaroos ù University of Missouri, Kansas City
Learning Our Way to the Future
The Creative Economy	p. 91
The Arts: De-cultured Society
Art Tokens
Living the Dream
City Money in History
Culture Cards in Flanders
Core Support for Artists
Exchanging Ecologies	p. 101
Mitigating Carbon
Global Cap and Trade: The Kyoto Treaty
The Carbon Tax
A New Approach: The Vision of a Carbon Currency
Other Ecologically-Positive Currencies: The Biwa Kippu System in Japan
Conclusion
Minding the Community's Business	p. 111
From Social Responsibility to Sustainability
Progressive Profitably
Business that Change the World
Rewarding Loyalty
Recession Proof Commerce
Commercial Credit Circuits (C3)
A Role for Businesses
Putting the Care Back In Healthcare	p. 121
In Sickness and in Health
Sickness Treatment vs. Wellness Promotion
The Scarcity of Health
The Cost of Failing Health
From Sickness Treatment to Healthcare
Wellness Tokens: Promoting Prevent Care
Honoring Our Elders, Caring For Children	p. 133
A Scarcity of Care
Time Banks and Care Banks
The Japanese System
Eating Money	p. 143
A Shared Meal
From Subsistence to Surplus
The Hidden Cost of Cheap Food
The Expanding Role of Debt
Food Currents
Systemic Interventions
Farm Stand: Vermont's Food Currency
Making It Happen
Intentional Cities	p. 161
Mobilizing Collective Action
Choice of the Methodology
Visionary Cities-Creating Excitement and Momentum
The Legacy Project Burlington, Vermont
The Earth Charter
A Tale of Three Cities	p. 181
Calgary 100 Year Plan
Integration and Whole Systems
Roundtables, Stakeholders and Working Groups
Stakeholder Traning
Plan it Newburgh
enVisioning Montpelier
Moving From Vision to Action
Community and Resource Mobilization
Conclusion: Toward A Monetary Democracy	p. 207
The Efficiency Argument
Marginal Role of Complementary Currencies
The bypass Approach
A Vision for a Vibrant Local Economy
Appendix: The Community Currency How to Manual	p. 217
Endnotes	p. 239
Resources	p. 243
Index	p. 259
About the Authors	p. 268
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