April 2011 - P2P-Foundation - lists.ourproject.org

worldwide decline for support of 'free market' capitalism
by Michel Bauwens 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

amazing figures from http://www.economist.com/node/18527446?fsrc=scn/tw/te/ar/marketofideas -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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Fwd: <nettime> Now also bankers know what bitcoins are
by Michel Bauwens 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 2:49 AM Subject: Fwd: <nettime> Now also bankers know what bitcoins are To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Jaromil <jaromil(a)dyne.org> Date: Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 1:26 PM Subject: <nettime> Now also bankers know what bitcoins are To: nettime-l(a)kein.org re all, FYI: http://www.dyndy.net/2011/04/bitcoin-presented-to-the-old-world/ Bitcoin presented to the Old-world Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 Filed under Conference, Currency Tagged with cash, crypto, P2P, public Related articles: * [23]Action in London, Revolutionary Credit Cards * [24]Process Ecology: the lesson from Nature for assessing the Monetary System Just back from the 10th edition of the [25]EPCA conference held in Amsterdam, where I was a shoulder for my friend Genjix: bitcoin developers were invited to talk about [26]Bitcoin to a specialized audience of mostly >50 years old banker types in suits, with very few exceptions. Genjix presenting bitcoin in EPCA2011 The incipit of the conference booklet recites: “Over 200 transaction services professionals from all over the world will attend, discuss and experience this leading platform. For the last 10 years we have been on top of trends and developments in payments. We focus in particular on strategic innovation and break-through developments in on-line transactions“. And in fact it looked pretty well populated for that kind of context: besides the white-male-with-suits first scary impression, especially for those who value variety, from the written documentation available (I haven’t attended talks) one can tell these people run quite some businesses – at least they did until now <g>- and quite successfully. The brochures of the conference talk about transaction systems, RFID/NFC payment devices and all flavors of bank related products along the names of “Mobile Money”, “Secure SD”, “ePassport” and “Automated Fare Collection”. Our guy Genjix is a colorful and open minded type, witty and messy, a good mix that entertained the people present despite it being the last presentation of the day; he did a good (unpaid) job presenting some quite impressive information on the growth and usage of Bitcoin, making people present progressively interested (or pissed, but then hard to notice behind the suits) at this crypto-cash system that seems to be there to stay or, one could argue, to multiply in different flavors in the near future. “Being shown an anonymous digital currency with its own laundering service. Used for selling drugs. Bit-coin, you have cheered me up.” Michael Price The presentation didn’t hide even the most controversial aspects of bitcoin, pointing out to some very extreme usage: something that seemed to relieve the audience, considering that banker types are pretty beaten up by corporate ethics evangelists nowadays. In such cases Bitcoin tends to show that anonymity is used in the “worst” way, which is still half of the story. We are still far from developing a positive narrative on anonymity and continuing on this track will likely move policy makers into massive identification campaigns, as it has been now since the 9/11 sad facts. Still on the good side for bitcoin is its working implementation of a distributed system relying on an “open source algorithmic contract”: something definitely inspiring that knocks off the hegemony of old-world currencies – and one can hardly imagine how they’ll ever recover from this manifest process ultimately due to the unstoppable, immanent influence of the digital dimension. Bitcoin is a messenger and the message it carries doesn’t originates even from a person, or a group of people, not even an organization or a company: it’s a Geist (or Zeitgeist, should we say) that impersonates the ultimate dissolution of centralized governance: everything that was solid melts into thin air, should we mourn once again, while all those who were on the deregulation train in 1984 have now to face their kids reminding them how their World is made of lies – and dreams, apparently, still alive. Following a materialist point of view (and crypto-agnostic, we’ll argue) bitcoin can surely be interpreted as a [27]Rube-Goldberg machine for buying electricity – and this was even our very first reaction at DYNDY when we got to know it the first time. Surely these are times when materialism is needed, as opposed to more abstract financial blabbering, but then consider that the processing power in bitcoin serves to strengthen the network authentication: all that electricity is energy invested by participants to enforce the integrity of the network. Now consider how old monetary systems keep their integrity: a huge government building with armed guards along the perimeter, to not even mention the huge investment of resources and infrastructure to distribute this money (street level access) and authenticate it at transaction time. Remember prof. Greco? we’ve been talking about this… Bitcoin is a “disruptive technology”, but disruptive for whom? as a human creation, it inherits human problems that are also present in older systems; still P2P currencies as bitcoin let us save energy rather than consume more, also substituting the violence of armed guards with agile and cryptographic communications. Ultimately, the positive message that bitcoin also carries is that of more possibilities in engineering currencies, that of a future in which complementary currencies can make economic systems more resilient to the the disruption of capitalist behaviors, while closely relating people to their community values and maybe even revolutionize the way we contribute to the common good – paying taxes for what we really care, rather than not paying them, let me add. Quoting Wei Dai in [28]one of bitcoin’s founding texts: “It’s a community where the threat of violence is impotent because violence is impossible, and violence is impossible because its participants cannot be linked to their true names or physical locations. Until now it’s not clear, even theoretically, how such a community could operate. A community is defined by the cooperation of its participants, and efficient cooperation requires a medium of exchange (money) and a way to enforce contracts.” Now I’m wondering how people present at the EPCA 2011 conference feel, threatened or pleased by this epiphany? in either case it might be interesting to watch reactions. The transaction products I read of are stacking on technological complexity and seamless design that is ultimately undermining the very possibility for people to trust them. On top of that now there are on-line grass-root communities actively building new systems in a decentralized fashion. Will the monopoly of violence enter this game to defend the old-system, despite the squeaking sounds of its carcass, the diffused lack of trust for old hierarchies and the lack for collective agency within its cheated rules? We will see where this ends up: after all today it felt like one of those historical days marked by such a talk made by a little provocative guy wearing a t-shirt and nail polish speaking in front of a old and well dressed audience – but then no-one was really scared. IRC excerpt from #bitcoin-dev during the conference: <jaromil> sirius-m: i'd expect some more fashion happening <topi`> jaro: they just don't know how :) <sirius-m> thanks for being there, it's a new important audience for bitcoin <sirius-m> people who otherwise might not hear about the project <jaromil> true but knowing the types i think they are thinking how to fork it in their own advantage <jaromil> prolly wasted effort <topi`> at least they start talking about it:) <topi`> good luck finding ways to exploit the system <krytzz> hopefully they cant fork the network <krytzz> only could start a seperate one :( <sirius-m> nah, it's good that you're spreading the word :) <topi`> if there *will* be some threat coming from corporate sector, then we'll finally find out how resilient the whole architecture is :) Like this article? Donate BTC :^D 1GJehYZs5BZfL4RTCBFUpTVrjX6XRhDWdq * Comments open on the DYNDY article website http://www.dyndy.net/2011/04/bitcoin-presented-to-the-old-world/ * Copyleft © 2010-2011 GNU FDL dyne.org foundation References Visible links 23. http://www.dyndy.net/2011/03/action-in-london-revolutionary-credit-cards/ 24. http://www.dyndy.net/2011/03/the-analogy-with-process-ecology-for-assessing… 25. http://www.epcaconference.com/ 26. http://bitcoin.org/ 27. http://trustcurrency.blogspot.com/2011/03/bitcoin-rube-goldberg-machine-for… 28. http://weidai.com/bmoney.txt Hidden links: 88. http://www.dyndy.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/genjix_bitcoin_epca11.jpg 89. http://www.dyndy.net/wp-content/pdf/newspaper.pdf -- jaromil, dyne.org developer, http://jaromil.dyne.org GPG: B2D9 9376 BFB2 60B7 601F 5B62 F6D3 FBD9 C2B6 8E39 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.10 (GNU/Linux) iQQcBAEBCAAGBQJNnZ9wAAoJEAslGzkIl3JRmyEf+QHcl25bgXycAbwigFdXVEZV 5aGYnLhhPnaYjDx9lqDyF+e9f1sn62E01EEQGuR9uywRGr+SmjhsLijQGQyrzjh3 isa8pMtWIO5LQqo3a3FMc7VTnlXoXyJRT/RVpfVth6CdZHEorasCt4XJn3phKmD6 Jx7IH3Ff5O28y9lGeTvbdARWtMkVSTLJxNZ/bDSMBFpwOMqYgbF7crDqYm0Uvcnf sfUyaVeSdN6utMcwuTiiR1ebCaN0nxmK5xAMBpRhMPSTR6rIDQHCpvIWmcX8fAg6 fvGEWMyjJc1H0NhwxgqQrNrTKL5sCkTDkpZrXbL5ptXk1KWg87Cu5jvC1sSxL3wc p7fxj98fBULbTX1q6m/iMWzEQ/XB5HWqTYGbhzhRZAZj8fPY+2tL1LemVLIf5JBd CZBcaYk1K1COrYdUwjo/6+HIb7eU5x66WvmYez6MsZnp4CWtl7lRJbi0cmXGbBnr T5eO1cmhYF3kWaYMFtXw2XtS5yViPNtAQ0DXGBHbOt/z+KfMvBQ1axR/J4T2vr2F VUwmCwVdidpsN5lSHBu3IHmpIh3a8RB/QjFr+j5uX4uNFXflh2MrjTm2sEjwR6c2 tfX64giFLq8suvsM9Ae539wjX2BW/75Cya094v1uKt0GYaLLq+qNPnZu4EfChNKX 2lobPhSmk7XHYeeNjbjeJTqJ7SIJYCgLIj4/ar4Wu8+xI0DI7xNWNbryKHHWMFxl j/klboLbPOmN0XAEwSlbpxfaOwuOnU90vHreerNqac+JeWA4tAJn69KX6CbAhBf1 25p/jMkKBxOr4rfaIsbgXf/HyMTEqB/hHakUen/VAPoB/wSnxJNhbCCExxmephsd Gtbbus4KehUGL6FNQUe2DNhpJf8fYJs8LVq9078yzmMvDPNG151zWv0ft2DIakY1 SM/Ji1oiR21W3STr2curUURA3rC726tvHlYmpdbjxS1sc5Zr7ngWuXlV4YGbqpWB DdxcaJcI0morAaZ+nZukuHbNqscqFobGDWuLIQ0PYR4F3bT37eG/cSIL3/sGabjN 6cM8Skp7YQSDTUZLoHAFdve9TnODxuiQCGAQRvhMeCehrHJmbAAQWNRD2eZjkwG3 UXVWYevbYMipyK5yV51nhyKK+tLdzZp0oJoirKTYOfCrr+9PPmb/92mxVQ2jT8hr 9z6GpMwyW8gEFjPaJL5vjKStPumRy5riPY47TiAtTMMhErcqdeT+ih4okgkAB6Ah ORl2afQiZRI5wYPMWvsgrITdYG2ebBrer81zDO+dIFNfQNCLl5M9Xix6Jan0iYH7 MYzcwz36gMhXqqLGHHfYXWTKVGegWODahQvEsFMsvA5Zwkbc+aS5jZp1IWPNjcs= =ubD2 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mail.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime(a)kein.org -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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Fwd: 7 min video - middle class creation in US - Paul Krugman
by Michel Bauwens 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 4:35 PM Subject: 7 min video - middle class creation in US - Paul Krugman To: econowmix(a)googlegroups.com, sustainable_solidarity(a)yahoogroups.com, hc_ecology(a)yahoogroups.com 7 min excerpt - Income Inequality and the Middle Class : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kwA-CwFK5A some content : *In US, Middle Class created within short period of time - not more than 7 or 8 years - , * *during New Deal and World War Two ? / *"The Great Compression". <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kwA-CwFK5A>+ decline of unionization in the United States ( compared to Canada ) is political ? // Diploma's vs income ? - Highest paid hedge fund manager "earned" , in one year, an amount equal to 3 years of income of all 80 000 New York school teachers. complete video : "Common Wealth Club" program : http://fora.tv/2007/10/30/Paul_Krugman_Future_of_the_Middle_Class -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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Fwd: singularities ? analytical and/or intuitive/creative combined emergences ?
by Michel Bauwens 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 7:18 PM Subject: singularities ? analytical and/or intuitive/creative combined emergences ? To: econowmix(a)googlegroups.com Technological Singularity<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity>seems to promise an acceleration of change ( ? ), potentially related to some exponential increase of ( analytical ? ) processing capacity ? http://singularityhub.com/2011/04/04/kurzweil-is-confident-machines-will-pa… Hence when making a comparison with Jill Bolte Taylor's "Stroke of Insight", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyyjU8fzEYU >From what I remember of Jill Bolte Taylor's presentation, left and right "hemispheres" of the brain may have different approaches to processing, with the left brain apparently supporting more "analytical/sequential/logical" processing of experience, and the right brain apparently supporting more intuitive/creative processing of experience. ( http://www.indiaparenting.com/raising-children/253_443/left-brain-right-bra… ) I personally perceive such technological potential for artificial intelligence as more of a analytical processing capability, even when enabling increased broad view potential. My question - it may still seem metaphysical at present : is there to be an adaptation, by emergence , where intuitive/creative right brain potential of perception of current beings/entities able to use it, going to increase based on interconnectivity with analytical technological singularity ? Or is there to be a combined analytical and creative/intuitive acceleration rooted directly within technology ? -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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article - resilient org - three principles of complexity based management
by Dante-Gabryell Monson 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

any of us in touch with David Snowden ? http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/2011/03/the_resilient_organisation… excerpt : three principles of complexity based management namely: - The use of finely grained objects (this will be two posts, one on organisation objects, the other on information & narrative) - Distributed cognition, creating and using human sensor setworks - Disintermediation which means enabling the direct contact between decision maker (which can be a ritualised collective identity as well as an individual or committee) and raw material without interpretative layers. Posted by Dave Snowden <http://www.cognitive-edge.com/> on March 23, 2011 ---------------------------------------- http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Snowden *David John Snowden* (born 1 April 1954) is a Welsh<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_people> lecturer, consultant and researcher in the field of knowledge management<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_management> . He has been described as an expert on tacit knowledge<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacit_knowledge> ,[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Snowden#cite_note-Fortune-0> and "One of the most perceptive observers of the way in which knowledge is used in organizations."

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hydrogen economy via photosynthesis ?
by Dante-Gabryell Monson 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-03/28/artificial-leaf excerpt : * * *MIT professor Daniel Nocera claims<http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTI…> to have created an artificial leaf, made from stable and inexpensive materials, which mimics nature's photosynthesis process.* *The device is an advanced solar cell, no bigger than a typical playing card, which is left floating in a pool of water. Then, much like a natural leaf, it uses sunlight to split the water into its two core components, oxygen and hydrogen, which are stored in a fuel cell to be used when producing electricity<http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-02/24/electricity-conducting-plast…> .* * * * * ( thanks to Gael for the link )

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Fwd: a convincing left critique of Chavez and Venezuela
by Michel Bauwens 09 Apr '11

09 Apr '11

Pretty impressive counterpoint to the negative article I sent out the other day, about Venezuela, see http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5971 an excerpt to give you a taste: The combination of greater inclusion and greater participation has led to a greater acceptance of Venezuela’s democratic political system, according to the annual Latinobarometro opinion polls, which allow for comparisons with other democracies in Latin America. That is, more Venezuelans believe in democracy than citizens of any other country in Latin America. Eighty-four percent of Venezuelans say, “democracy is preferable to any other system of government,” while the average for all of Latin America is 61%.[4]<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Downloads/Advances,%20Shortcomings,%20and%20Obstacles%20-final.doc#_ftn4>Forty-nine percent of Venezuelans says that they are satisfied with their democracy, which is 5 points above the regional average of 44% and 14 points higher than it was in 1998.[5]<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Downloads/Advances,%20Shortcomings,%20and%20Obstacles%20-final.doc#_ftn5>Also, more Venezuelans express an interest in politics than in any other Latin American country (35%, with the regional average at 26%).[6]<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Downloads/Advances,%20Shortcomings,%20and%20Obstacles%20-final.doc#_ftn6>Finally, contrary to what one would believe by reading mainstream media, only 25% of Venezuelans say that the president controls the mass media, which is 4 points lower than the regional average of 29%.[7]<file:///C:/Users/Usuario/Downloads/Advances,%20Shortcomings,%20and%20Obstacles%20-final.doc#_ftn7> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Gregory Wilpert <gregwilpert(a)gmail.com> Date: Sat, Apr 9, 2011 at 1:28 AM Subject: Re: a convincing left critique of Chavez and Venezuela To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> Michel, If you want a different perspective, you could repost this article that I wrote recently: http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5971 Also, take a look at this article that we posted today, which contradicts the BS in the Platypus article, where he says that Venezuelanalysis is a propaganda site and that the UNETE labor federation is a chavista stooge: <http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6121> http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/6121 Best, Greg

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hacking the state,3rd update
by Michel Bauwens 08 Apr '11

08 Apr '11

I could not link to this in facebook ('blocked'), but will excerpt later today, following up on both toni prug and patrice riemens, Michel ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Facebook <notifications+pjiidwm(a)facebookmail.com> Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 12:51 AM Subject: Poor Richard shared a link on your Wall. To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004(a)gmail.com> facebook Poor shared a link on your Wall.A tangent to "Hacking the State" http://almanac2010.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/social-evolution-an-ounce-of-al…<http://www.facebook.com/l/8113882qgx-Jl1pKemAdOAfyKAQ/almanac2010.wordpress…>Social evolution: An ounce of allegory vs a pound of theory « Poor Richard's Almanack 2010Society in the modern world is little different from early societies. There are three elements: sheep, shepherds, and wolves. The sheep are we the people. The shepherd is government, which leads, protects, and shears the sheep. The wolves are the corporations which feed upon the sheep. All three havTo see your Wall or to write on Poor's Wall, follow the link below: http://www.facebook.com/n/?mbauwens%2Fposts%2F137530086320077&mid=407f6b5G1…, The Facebook TeamThe message was sent to michelsub2004(a)gmail.com. If you don't want to receive these emails from Facebook in the future or have your email address used for friend suggestions, you can unsubscribe<http://www.facebook.com/o.php?k=c05bf5&u=528245547&mid=407f6b5G1f7c632bGe3b…>. Facebook, Inc. P.O. Box 10005, Palo Alto, CA 94303 -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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Re: [P2P-F] Conference invitation and information on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)
by Michel Bauwens 08 Apr '11

08 Apr '11

thanks Kevin! On Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 7:08 PM, Kevin Flanagan <kev.flanagan(a)gmail.com>wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Feasta News <website(a)feasta.org> > Date: 8 April 2011 12:42 > Subject: Conference invitation and information on Modern Monetary Theory > (MMT) > To: Feasta News Subscriber <kev.flanagan(a)gmail.com> > > > <http://www.feasta.org> > > *(Mailing list information, including unsubscription instructions, is > located at the end of this message.)* > > > *Lessons from the Crisis: Money, Taxes and Saving in a Changing World* > [image: Tasc logo] <http://www.tascnet.ie> [image: Smart Taxes logo]<http://www.smarttaxes.org> > *conference co-hosted by the Smart Taxes Network <http://smarttaxes.org>and > TASC <http://www.tascnet.ie/>.* > *Date :* 9th May 2011 > *Venue :* Croke Park, Dublin > Entry is free but booking is required (via contact(a)tascnet.ie<http://mailto:[email protected]> > ) > > *Have Economists Learnt Anything from the Crisis?* > > The dawning realisation that conventional economic thinking that did not > foresee the crisis cannot help solve the problems we now face means that we > must be open to exploring new economic ideas. It is time to move beyond > criticising the clear shortcomings of our country’s economists and > politicians and consider - with open minds - economic ideas that are being > developed outside of the mainstream. Such a new macroeconomic model has been > developed by a pioneering community of heterodox economists based in the > University of Missouri, Kansas City. Their Modern Money Theory (MMT) > approach predicted the current crisis and so, unsurprisingly, their analysis > and economic solutions have attracted intense interest amongst economic > commentators including Nobel-Prize-winning Paul Krugman. > > MMT will inform some of the economic policies to be presented and debated > in a conference entitled “Lessons from the Crisis: Money, Taxes and Saving > in a Changing World” co-hosted by Smart Taxes, (Fiscal Policy for > Sustainability Network) and TASC (Think Tank for Action on Social Change) on > the 9th of May at Croke Park, Dublin. Policy suggestions from Tasc have > been developed within a critical progressive perspective, and Feasta's > analysis is based on the role of cheap fossil fuels, particularly oil, > within a complex and interdependent financialised economic system. > > *What does Modern Money Theory have to offer us that is different?* > > Although Modern Money Theory describes the money creation and management > system of a fully sovereign (i.e. currency-issuing) state, MMT is still > relevant to Ireland in formulating strategy and its negotiating stance with > the European Central Bank and European Parliament to address the debt > crisis. > > MMT tells us that the ECB can issue currency or liquidity at no cost to > itself, nor to its constituent central banks, nor to the national economies > of the eurozone. The ECB already tacitly acknowledges this fact because it > has declined to turn its liquidity support to the Irish banks - currently at > €70b - into a medium term loan. Such a loan is actually unnecessary and not > in Ireland’s interest as it would carry a substantially higher interest rate > than the current 1% charged for the liquidity. The ECB provides the > liquidity by simply crediting it to the accounts of the banks. The pretence > that the liquidity given to Irish banks was provided in exchange for > valuable assets has been shown up to be a non-essential requirement and > notional fiction because the ECB has permitted the Irish central bank (a > subsidiary of the ECB) to also credit the Irish banks without a matching > transfer of bank assets of equal or greater value. > > Under the MMT perspective, a central bank should not be concerned by the > mounting sum in the sovereign government’s deficit account as it does not, > despite ‘common sense’ claims to the contrary, represent a debt analogous to > that of a household, business or bank debt. Instead the central bank should > watch intently for signs of inflation – of which there are few at present in > our struggling economies – as its overarching guide for money creation and > taxation levels. Taxation both destroys money, by removing it from > circulation, and gives it value, as only a national currency is ever > accepted in payment of taxes. Once it is understood that money can be safely > issued by a central bank without repayment of capital and interest and does > not have to be first borrowed in the bond market or raised in taxes (yes, > that means given free), new policy options open to tackle unemployment and > inflation - not forgetting resource pe ak and climate change. > > Furthermore, MMT suggests that instead of making liquidity available to > the banks, the ECB could just as easily, and probably more safely, give it > directly to member state governments. It can write a metaphorical cheque for > immediate and annual distributions of for instance, 10% of GDP on a > per-capita-basis to pay down member state outstanding debts. It should, at > the same time, impose national deficit ceilings sufficiently high to promote > desired levels of aggregate demand. > > This positive attitude to government deficits is another > counter-intuitive aspect of MMT compared to conventional analysis and goes > beyond promoting deficits to counter liquidity traps in a depression. Once > you accept that all non-government money i.e. bank money is matched by > liabilities, it follows then that for the private sector to net save, the > government has to be in net debt. Even though a sovereign government does > not have to sell bonds to raise money, MMT tells us it should still do so to > a certain extent, in order to provide secure interest-bearing saving > vehicles for its citizens. > > Another important policy of most MMT economists is the Job Guarantee, > i.e. that the government should act as an ‘Employer of Last Resort’. A job > guarantee is a permanent job offer from the government to all citizens of a > certain age who are ready, willing, and able to work, for a basic wage. Some > MMT economists suggest that the ECB could directly fund a Job Guarantee > Programme in Ireland and in any other EMU state that requested it. Or if > general EU agreement cannot be got, a national government could fund a Job > Guarantee out of their allocation of ECB-issued liquidity. > > The banks of Member States would still benefit from a Job Guarantee that > was directly or indirectly funded by the ECB as the newly employed lodged > their salaries in their accounts and paid off their mortgages. The exchequer > would benefit as people came off social supports and paid income and > indirect taxes out of their wages. The resulting increase in circulating > money would transfuse the economy to provide the confidence that is so > lacking and which no amount of direct liquidity injection into the banks > appears to be able to create. > > The Irish Environmental Pillar contends that the jobs provided in the Job > Guarantee programme should ideally be Green Jobs and should address the most > important challenges of our time; resource peak- especially fossil fuels, > climate change and biodiversity loss. In addition to the obvious need to > tackle these issues, a Green Job Guarantee programme would have no real > impact on the public or private sectors as these environmental resources and > systems are not yet priced (i.e. are accounted as externalities) in the > marketplace. > > *Who will Present Papers at the “Learning from the Crisis” Conference?* > > US-based MMT economists from the University of Missouri, Kansas Dr. > Randall Wray, Dr. Stephanie Kelton and Roosevelt Scholar, Marshall Auerback > will present and debate Modern Monetary Theory and the Job Guarantee > Programme with participants and fellow presenters Richard Douthwaite and > David Korowicz from Feasta, Prof Gerry Hughes from TCD Pension Policy > Research Group, Sinéad Pentony and Tom McDonnell from TASC and Michael Taft > from Unite Trade Union. > > The conference is free and open to anyone whose mind is also open. > > ------------------------------ > > > The following information is a reminder of your current mailing list > subscription: > > You are subscribed to the following list: > > *Feasta News* > > using the following email: > > *kev.flanagan(a)gmail.com* > > You may automatically unsubscribe from this list at any time by visiting > the following URL: > > http://www.feasta.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/u/feasta_news/ > > If the above URL is inoperable, make sure that you have copied the entire > address. Some mail readers will wrap a long URL and thus break this > automatic unsubscribe mechanism. > > You may also change your subscription by visiting this list's main screen: > > http://www.feasta.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/list/feasta_news > > If you're still having trouble, please contact the list owner at: > > website(a)feasta.org > > The following physical address is associated with this mailing list: > > *FEASTA* > The Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, Main Street, > Cloughjordan, > Co.Tipperary, > Ireland > > Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail<http://www.feasta.org/cgi-bin/dada/mail.cgi/what_is_dada_mail/> > > Powered by Dada Mail 4.0.2 <http://dadamailproject.com> > Copyright © 1999-2009, Simoni Creative <http://dadamailproject.com/justin> > . > > > -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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Fwd: 2 min video : Local business pays it forward
by Michel Bauwens 08 Apr '11

08 Apr '11

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson(a)gmail.com> Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 7:26 PM Subject: 2 min video : Local business pays it forward To: econowmix(a)googlegroups.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYGzfyOCp4I A Spokane Valley business is giving each of its employees a bonus, but the catch is that they can not spend it on themselves. -- P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net Connect: http://p2pfoundation.ning.com; Discuss: http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation Updates: http://del.icio.us/mbauwens; http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens; http://twitter.com/mbauwens; http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens

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