Like the proverbial fish who doesn’t know what water is, we swim in an economy built on money that few of us comprehend, and, most definitely, what we don’t know is hurting us.Very few people realize that the nature of money has changed profoundly over the past three centuries, or—as has been clear with the latest global financial crisis—the extent to which it has become a political instrument used to centralize power, concentrate wealth, and subvert popular government. On top of that, the economic growth imperative inherent in the present global monetary system is a main driver of global warming and other environmental crises.The End of Money and the Future of Civilization demystifies the subjects of money, banking, and finance by tracing historical landmarks and important evolutionary shifts that have changed the essential nature of money. Greco’s masterful work lays out the problems and then looks to the future for a next stage in money’s evolution that can liberate us as individuals and communities from the current grip of centralized and politicized money power.Greco provides specific design proposals and exchange-system architectures for local, regional, national, and global financial systems. He offers strategies for their implementation and outlines actions grassroots organizations, businesses, and governments will need to take to achieve success.Ultimately, The End of Money and the Future of Civilization provides the necessary understanding— for entrepreneurs, activists, and civic leaders—to implement approaches toward monetary liberation. These approaches would empower communities, preserve democratic institutions, and begin to build economies that are sustainable, democratic, and insulated from the financial crises that plague the dominant monetary system.
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 Incredible story on money and changes for needed for our future |
| Review Date: October 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: M. Stewart, Texas, USA |
This is not a book you can glide through; it took me almost three months to read it, but it was time well spent. I have a degree in finance, and I was astounded at how little I knew about the history of money and the implications of how it has evolved into a situation where control of money and the economy is held by a small group of people; very powerful people. As I started to read it, my first impressions were that this book was in the vein of some conspiracy books. And yes, there is an index entry for the Trilateral Commission! But as I continued, the more everything started to fit together. This is not some doomsday book, but a carefully researched thought-provoking work.
The author proposes that to help make money more accessible to everyone, and to be more equitable to all, is the formation of alternate currencies. He details how that has taken place in the past, such as in post World War One Germany, when hyperinflation gripped the country, and in 1923 a loaf of bread cost 428 billion marks. An alternate currency was introduced, with some key features that are crucial for any alternate currency, such as no legal tender compulsion, and reasonable limits on currency creation. Other examples come from various South American countries. In the United States, an example from Pennsylvania after the tragic Johnstown flood shows how this concept can work. A current example not mentioned in this book, but is covered in the book Africa Rising, is how cell phone minutes have become a medium of exchange in several African countries, combating hyperinflation there. You can get your car repaired in exchange for cell phone minutes!
The book highlights the major problem with current currencies as there has been a blurring of the distinction of the two basic purposes of money, and the role of central banks such as the Federal Reserve Bank in the USA. The first basic role of money is as a medium of exchange, or a store of value. The other is as a credit instrument, to help fund future production. What has caused our current predicament is the conflicts of interest between the banking industry and the central banks, in regards to creation of currency.
He then details how a gradual transition to a more equitable solution is possible. The main idea is the creation of "barter clubs" to get to the point where cost of credit becomes reasonable and controlled. He details past attempts at such barter clubs, and gives a balanced coverage of both the successes and the failures, and details what can be done to avoid the past failures. The beauty of the barter club is that members can obtain reasonable amounts of credit for current inventory without any interest charges He mentions the key to the success of these barter clubs is to recruit the entire supply chain; manufacturers, wholesalers, service businesses, and retail. I know from experience with a barter club in the 1970s a major drawback was almost all members were service businesses such as beauty salons, realty agents, and car repair. Taxation implications are addressed; barter clubs are not an attempt to bypass income taxes. Barter club is perhaps a too narrow term, but sufficient for this review.
The book has a very thorough index, 198 footnotes, and four pages of references from a variety of sources. Two appendixes contain a sample member agreement for barter clubs and a proposed standard measure of value.
This book could have a profound positive impact on local and eventually global economies. It is definitely worth the effort to read through it, if nothing more to better understand our financial system and its weaknesses in order to garner support for a more equitable and secure financial system.
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Thinking Outside the Money "Box"
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| Review Date: June 10, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Patrick M. Hussey, Baltimore, MD, United States |
This book arrives at precisely the proper time in monetary history, with the United States destroying not only its own currency but the world's reserve currency which underlies all modern economies and banking systems. Liberty Dollar, an alternative currency based upon silver in the Northeastern United States, has just had all of its principals arrested. This follows a raid and seizure that occurred in November 2007. The Fed and the Treasury are determined to use their monetary monopoly to preserve the profitability of seniorage until the final collapse, forcing all savers to eat the inflation they created to pay for fantasies they could not afford otherwise. The Chinese are laughing at our Treasury Secretary when he says the dollar is "safe," while the leadership of China drop their dollar holdings like a bad habit to obtain tangible commodities. Other major trading partners are following suit.
Hence, The End of Money and the Future of Civilization. While the title is unimaginative and the cover bland, the content was thought-provoking and original. Greco appropriately recognizes the present monetary disorder, and aims to correct it by demonstrating the potential democratization of the monetary system by using credit clearing systems at local levels.
The first seventy-five pages are spent discussing the nefarious ways of Central Banks, going all the way back to the Bank of England and up to the present-day Fed. He briefly touches on the New World Order, and the deflation and inflation that are caused by the power of Central Banks to move markets and remake the world in their distorted image, as Money-God gone mad. Many readers with a more conspiratorial orientation will be familiar with these ideas; for others, they may be new. But the introduction is nonetheless necessary to set the stage for the meat of Greco's argument.
In Chapter eight, Greco calls for the separation of money and state. This is brilliant in theory. A revolutionary thought for most, but because paper money systems are so abused by the Money Powers That Be with an artificial monopoly on issuance, the costs of allowing this monopoly are not worth the purported benefits. It is evident that the author has thought deeply about the various alternative monetary regimes that might be possible, but they all strike me as deeply flawed. For example, are bad debts transmitted throughout the currency system? Since one of the chief virtues of banks is information (interest rates, credit scores, risk level, etc) how does society compensate for the lack of this information? Would credit clearing associations be capable of fulfilling this role? If the printing press is decentralized (commendable in principle) how do we prevent abuses? The author does not spend enough time dealing with these issues in my view. It's easy to say, "look for the warning signs - currency is losing value," but this is too late for those who hold notes in the devalued currency as savings. Who protects them? We cannot count on corrupt Western governments nor the banks, so how would this work?
Another issue that would come to the fore is that of redeemability. Greco is no goldbug, but does recognize that there must be some sort of tether on page 207. He also recognizes the shortcomings in chapter nine - a monetary tether like gold can lead to extreme concentrations of economic power, and can artificially constrain growth to the rate of the mined gold supply. This issue needs more clarity, in my view, and I would argue that it's easier to entrap individuals in a web of debt through fiat money than a gold or silver standard.
The author should have dedicated more thought and emphasis to the role of savings and investment. As a student of the Austrian school, this is paramount. The limits on the type of credit allowed would honor savings and investment fairly, rather than introducing fraudulent fiat cash into the system, but I do think most individuals or even corporate boards or governments would have trouble making the distinction between the two - this is an advanced topic. Most people are used to thinking of money as a universal standard of account, not the different forms it takes unless they are an economist or perhaps an institutional investor. Hence the practicality of metal monetary standards - it democratizes but also simplifies money itself.
In sum, this book is a terrific effort to deal with some very difficult and complex issues. I would welcome a second edition, which could perhaps clarify the author's positions on several points.
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New Synthesis for discerning radicals on the money problem
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| Review Date: July 29, 2009 |
| Reviewer: William Shepherd, |
| This is the first coherent and intelligible narrative on why the money problem matters and how to do something about it. A masterly synthesis followed by thought-provoking proposals on what must be done. Greco's chapter on the evolution of money is probably the only accurate account written since Hartley Withers married the daughter of the great Walter Bagehot, edited The Economist and wrote The Meaning of Money a century ago. Greco is among the few who have understood the fraud and deceit inherent in the Venetian trick of double entry book-keeping that makes credit money appear the same as "claim check" money...despite its vastly different default risk. According to Greco, the way forward is not to return to metallic money, but to embrace the brave new world of credit money; separate 'Money and State'; and harness the power of credit money, not for the benefit of a tiny elite who deploy it to destroy the planet and starve the southern half to death, but for the common good. For more on the present abuse of credit money by the central banking global monopoly, read Anton Pinschof on the cesc website. |
Money Must Be Transformed to Meet Our Global Challenges
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| Review Date: June 1, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Joel Hodgell, Seattle, WA USA |
Tom Greco's newest book ("The End of Money and the Future of
Civilization") builds upon his previous books to explore new
material in the next phase of development (i.e. credit clearing)
for our monetary systems. Whether you are new to or are well
read in economics and global affairs, Tom's newest book covers
well the history of money's progression to our present system
and practical steps being used to transform it towards pure credit
clearing. Readers will find Tom's book to be a great resource and
reference tool for local community development, businesses of all
sizes, governments of all levels around the world, that presents
real solutions to address our biggest challenges in global warming,
poverty and endless materialistic growth. |
A truly enlightening view of how money really works
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| Review Date: June 12, 2009 |
| Reviewer: James Beswick, San Francisco, CA |
First, let me say that this isn't an easy book to read, both from the information-load point of view and the fact that it changes your perspective of money. One chapter per day is probably the best approach if you want to absorb as much as possible, since rarely have I read a book where almost every page contains something significant.
That being said, Greco's work is an economic tour de force, leaving no stone unturned in explaining the history, present and future of money and the financial system. I found myself stopping every few pages and wanting to call my friends to update them on some new profound fact of which I previously unaware, most of which paint a fairly depressing picture of how the average person is being taken advantage of. It's spelled out very clearly how there is a conspiracy between governments, bankers and "the rich" to tax us indirectly through inflation and make us pedal ever-faster to promote an artificial debt bubble and promote an unseen agenda. This was predicted and forewarned by the creators of the Constitution, and the pattern is repeated around the world in almost every country.
Depressing as this may seem, Greco also shows potential alternative systems and how things must evolve if we're to avoid the sort of crisis we've seen in the last couple of years. Fortunately, networks and information systems make his proposals almost inevitable, but there's a desperate need to educate the public so everyone starts to understand the difference between money, credit and wealth, and how the government injects itself to tax us and spend our assets frivolously. He discusses barter and credit exchange systems at length, and proposes viable (and actually quite simple) ways in which these could work and eliminate the twin perils of inflation and debt-bubbles that have been rampant in modern era.
Basically, I would recommend Greco's work to everyone I know. There's an urgent need in the restructuring of our economy (which, by the way, will be very different in the recovery than before the collapse) to understand the politics and mechanisms that caused our current situation. Although this is by no means 'an easy read', I consider it an essential one. |
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