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

In summary, under the existing money system, longer-term
thinking is not only less profitable, it is severely punished.
However, it is possible to design a monetary system which would
dramatically lower the cost of capital through simultaneously
reducing both interest rates and the cost of equity. And you will see
how this process realigns financial interests with the long-term
sustainability objectives.
Far-seeing Glasses?
What happens when you reverse the way you look into binoculars?
Suddenly, instead of bringing distant objects closer, it makes
everything look far away.
In our metaphor of the Near-Seeing Glasses positive interest rates
were the feature of our current monetary system which created a
generalised financial myopia, and made the future appear less
relevant. And the higher the interest rates the stronger the myopia. In
other words, the result of positive interest rates is similar to what
happens when one looks through the wrong end of binoculars.
What would happen if we reversed the financial analyst's glasses?
Remember the demurrage charges mentioned at the end of the
previous chapter? Demurrage was the brainchild of Silvio Gesell
(1862-1930), and was most recently used as an anti-hoarding device
for the stamp scrip currencies of the 1930s. Gesell's starting premise
was that money is a kind of public service, like a bus ride. And that a
small fee is charged for the time one hoards it ...
From a financial perspective, a demurrage charge on money is
mathematically equivalent to a negative interest rate. For reasons that
will become clear soon, I will call this time-related charge a