THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

example, ships its profits from Russia in the form of vodka, which it
then sells in the US and Europe for cash. The French have built
nuclear power stations in the Middle East against payments in oil. In
addition, new forms of corporate, scrip are taking hold, such as the
various frequent-flyer systems, wherein points or 'miles' can
increasingly be earned with, and used for, services other than airline
tickets (e.g., taxis, hotels, long-distance telephone, etc.). These are
currencies in the making for the 'international travelling elite'.
Further below the radar beams of officialdom is the remarkable and
explosive growth of grass-roots complementary currencies of various
kinds. As of January 2000, over 2,500 local currency systems are
operational in more than a dozen different countries, including 400 in
the UK alone.
What does all this mean? Chapter 1 identifies four megatrends
currently at work, which will force a fundamental change of our
money system over the next two decades. It also shows how this
change can be used as an opportunity to solve problems, which
appear hopeless if we remain stuck in the existing money paradigm.
Money has always appeared mysterious. For thousands of years the
mystery of money was religious in nature. Today, money remains
shrouded just as effectively by academic jargon and esoteric
equations. This is why in Chapter 2 we elucidate the mystery
surrounding it. We must also understand the main characteristics of
our current money system, and why it has been so naturally adopted
worldwide during the Industrial Age.
Today's fastest growing economy in the world is the cyber
economy. Already in 1996, 20 million Netizens made at least one
purchase on the Net, resulting in 836 billion in sales. Estimates for the
year 2000 reach g200 billion. Until recently, almost all payments on
the Net have been done by credit card. Credit card bills are normally
paid by cheque, outside the Net. Hundreds of projects are under way