Healthy Money Healthy Planet - library.uniteddiversity.coop

More documents

Recommendations

Info

1 18 Community Banking Are you having a nice recovery? Is your champagne chill just right? Or are you scratching to find something To feed your kids tonight Politicians fix up everything Except what matters most We need a whole lot less recovery and a lot more cheese on toast – Don Franks song 1 There are three types of financial organisations in New Zealand: registered banks, socalled ‘nonbanks’ and finance companies. This chapter focuses mainly on nonbanks, also called savings institutions, as they are mostly community owned. In contrast, banks and finance companies tend to be privately owned, although two in New Zealand (TSB Bank and Kiwibank) are not. As we saw in Chapter 1 and discuss briefly again below, the big banks that dominate the marketplace today create unhealthy money in the form of interestbearing loans. Additionally, in the case of New Zealand the banks are predominantly foreignowned, which means that every year we send money overseas as interest payments. With their insatiable demand for profit, these banks close small branches and continually raise their charges, harming local communities, small borrowers and those in most need of support. Although it has problems of its own, community banking provides a healthier option. With these establishments money is retained in local areas, small businesses and small borrowers are supported, loans are made interestfree or at low rates, and
2 community projects can be funded. Banks: High Profits, Poor Service Most people aren’t aware that commercial banks create money unhealthily out of thin air, but there are plenty of other reasons why customers are dissatisfied with their operations and services. Although competition among New Zealand’s five main registered banks was eating into interest rate margins, together they still managed to earn NZ$1.6 billion in the 1999 financial year, achieved through cutting costs and jobs and imposing higher fees. 2 By 2001, their underlying profits had jumped to NZ$2.6 billion. 3 Part of the reason for these huge profits is that the banks have an extraordinarily low level of ‘bad and doubtful debt expense’. 4 They are not lending to small businesses, and they are not taking any risks – 47 per cent of their loans, for example, are in mortgages, the safest form of lending. 5 During the late 20th century, bank closures in New Zealand left people in small towns dependent on EFTPOS, ATM machines and telephone banking, or having to travel greater distances. Hardest hit by such closures are the elderly, who commonly can’t cope with telephone banking, preferring to hang up rather than deal with touchtone options; instead, they tend to like dealing with a real person over the counter. The high bank fees imposed by banks cause particular difficulties for young working couples and the thousands of struggling small businesses in New Zealand. People on benefit respond to these rising fees simply by keeping their money in cash. As The Press editorialised in 1998, ‘The parsimony of the major banks and the lack of consideration for their customers may come back to haunt them. Locally controlled community banks once got customer priorities right.’ 6 This dissatisfaction with banks is not just a New Zealand phenomenon. In Australia, for example, the government received a report on an enquiry into banking services in rural areas in May 1998, as outback communities revolted against the banks as they closed
Page 1 and 2:
Healthy Money Healthy Planet by Dei
Page 3 and 4:
2 During the 1960s I listened on th
Page 5 and 6:
4 money. Richard’s enthusiasm for
Page 7 and 8:
6 must first be complemented by mon
Page 9 and 10:
6 For over a decade, Japan struggle
Page 11 and 12:
8 interestbearing money creation.
Page 13 and 14:
10 provides a benefit for seller an
Page 15 and 16:
2 After that, it didn’t take long
Page 17 and 18:
4 Bank B. This is called a ‘depos
Page 19 and 20:
6 Second comes the bit where banker
Page 21 and 22:
8 debt, hence the collective debt c
Page 23 and 24:
10 simply unsustainable in a finite
Page 25 and 26:
12 pieces of paper grant the bearer
Page 27 and 28:
14 master of all industry and comme
Page 29 and 30:
16 Money Supply 1935 - 2000 120000
Page 31:
18 commercial banks and is lent int
Page 34 and 35:
2 And nor are things getting any be
Page 36 and 37:
4 international trade in currencies
Page 38 and 39:
6 The data on New Zealand mortgage
Page 40 and 41:
8 The scheme has had unintended soc
Page 42 and 43:
10 Household loans (1978-2000) 90 8
Page 44 and 45:
12 City Council in mid2000 review
Page 46 and 47:
14 Similarly, mortgages are classif
Page 48 and 49:
16 And it is not just bank assets t
Page 50 and 51:
18 Keeping the Secret But surely if
Page 52 and 53:
20 Deputy Prime Minister. I asked h
Page 54 and 55:
22 Individuals have to compete with
Page 56 and 57:
24 instability. This speculation is
Page 58 and 59:
51 cared for. The cancerous parts o
Page 60 and 61:
53 constraints. What we need are so
Page 62 and 63:
55 accelerating. Eighty per cent of
Page 64 and 65:
57 waters to draw down. They also s
Page 66 and 67:
59 As far back as 1987, a UN World
Page 68 and 69:
61 The State of New Zealand Since 1
Page 70 and 71:
63 Health and Disability Like other
Page 72 and 73:
65 Low skilled jobs have largely di
Page 74:
67 • One in two people in Ireland
Page 77 and 78:
1 4 Unhealthy Globalisation The Sir
Page 79 and 80:
3 Although the process of corporate
Page 81 and 82:
5 globalisation is transnational ca
Page 83 and 84:
7 Many others have spoken of invisi
Page 85 and 86:
9 currencies to the US dollar. The
Page 87 and 88:
11 policies of these nations in ret
Page 89 and 90:
13 000). Round Tables The original
Page 91 and 92:
15 annual meeting in the small ski
Page 93 and 94:
17 When an enemy is powerful and ce
Page 95 and 96:
19 In January 2001, protesters demo
Page 97 and 98:
Martin Khor, Direitn 21
Page 99 and 100:
78 Every day we hear politicians, c
Page 101 and 102:
80 not return to the depression of
Page 103 and 104:
82 billion, equivalent to 39 per ce
Page 105 and 106:
84 which in turn rests on nature it
Page 107 and 108:
86 increase. And when jobs are crea
Page 109 and 110:
88 rather than adding them to the w
Page 111 and 112:
90 achieved very different levels o
Page 113 and 114:
92 placed at the top of the lists.
Page 115 and 116:
88 6 Facing the Critics Through the
Page 117 and 118:
90 the interestbased system, the
Page 119 and 120:
92 good or fair or sustainable. An
Page 121 and 122:
94 Certainly there are other ways o
Page 123 and 124:
96 landlord who charges you rent al
Page 125 and 126:
98 believe that credit to be valuab
Page 127 and 128:
100 If interest rates were zero the
Page 129 and 130:
102 It is quite fair that banks sho
Page 131 and 132:
2 free money before, as we shall se
Page 133 and 134:
4 In precolonial times, Maori tri
Page 135 and 136:
6 In Maori tribes, the gift society
Page 138 and 139:
9 What Gives Money its Value? To he
Page 140 and 141:
11 accept money as payment, we unco
Page 142 and 143:
13 goes still further and calls mon
Page 144 and 145:
15 Spanish and Dutch coins from ove
Page 146 and 147:
17 claimed that the UK’s financia
Page 148 and 149:
19 Today, the Reserve Bank retains
Page 150 and 151:
2 living systems. Finally, it discu
Page 152 and 153:
4 If our species is to survive, a n
Page 154 and 155:
6 with its own currencies, the patt
Page 156 and 157:
8 While it is possible for each tea
Page 158 and 159:
10 addiction, chronic illness and i
Page 160 and 161:
12 4. Human economies can and shoul
Page 162 and 163:
14 furniture transported at great c
Page 164 and 165:
16 down and money has been moved ar
Page 166 and 167:
18 areas? Is there a continuing dyn
Page 168 and 169:
Some estimate the costs of traffic
Page 170 and 171:
22 be a tension between the two. Th
Page 172 and 173:
24 democracy at the local governmen
Page 174 and 175:
26 as the individual organs of the
Page 176 and 177:
2 The democratisation of national c
Page 178 and 179:
4 her children who were fed by its
Page 180 and 181:
6 happened - the imposition of a co
Page 182 and 183:
8 existed and thrived for thousands
Page 184 and 185:
10 In addition, by focusing on loca
Page 186 and 187:
12 there is no hierarchy. As we saw
Page 188 and 189:
2 Michael Linton, David Weston and
Page 190 and 191:
4 could. He described them as ‘a
Page 192 and 193:
6 resorts may find themselves amass
Page 194 and 195:
8 problems. Since then, the system
Page 196 and 197:
10 forms. In version 1, operating u
Page 198 and 199:
12 All the following examples of co
Page 200 and 201:
14 sent a researcher to check the w
Page 202 and 203:
16 Salt Spring Island Dollars Salt
Page 204 and 205:
18 British Columbia Financial Insti
Page 206 and 207:
20 partnership. This trend has spre
Page 208 and 209:
22 traditional rice planting and ha
Page 210 and 211:
24 The city solicitor put the bigge
Page 212 and 213:
26 In the next chapter on commercia
Page 214:
28 43 Email from Eric Booth to Cal
Page 217 and 218:
2 Enz, who were supporters of the f
Page 219 and 220:
4 As with WIR, businesses are regis
Page 221 and 222:
6 A significant innovation in New Z
Page 223 and 224:
8 granting temporary credit where t
Page 225 and 226:
10 requiring transactions to be 100
Page 227 and 228:
12 participants of the scheme were
Page 229 and 230:
14 Ideology of the Wirtshaftsring
Page 231 and 232:
255 are already in possession of it
Page 233 and 234:
257 that all hoards of money would
Page 235 and 236:
259 sophisticated that Egypt became
Page 237 and 238:
261 Austria, for a period of 14 mon
Page 239 and 240:
263 US$260 million worth of work in
Page 241 and 242:
265 Saving will become impossible.
Page 243 and 244:
267 law professor in Italy. Profess
Page 245 and 246:
269 The Chiemgauer 21 In early 2002
Page 247 and 248:
271 Currency to Support Waldorf Sch
Page 249 and 250:
20 It started in 1989 when Frank To
Page 251 and 252:
22 Privately Issued Fiat Currencies
Page 253 and 254:
24 The Note Corporation itself then
Page 255 and 256:
26 andahalf years, A$3.5 millio
Page 257 and 258:
2 of agricultural and mining produc
Page 259 and 260:
4 such resource as fossil fuel, sin
Page 261 and 262: 6 • The demurrage charge would re
Page 263 and 264: 1 15 Lessons Learnt From Currencies
Page 265 and 266: 3 Regardless of whether the transac
Page 267 and 268: 5 payment of taxes. When the mayor
Page 269 and 270: 7 within that global economy we mus
Page 271 and 272: 9 Money can also be spent into exis
Page 273 and 274: 11 Huber and James Robertson, 6 it
Page 275 and 276: 13 apparently no one spread rumours
Page 277 and 278: 15 One of the weaknesses of local c
Page 279 and 280: 17 example (see page 000), the demu
Page 281 and 282: 19 trading. We therefore need decen
Page 283 and 284: 21 If citizens decide to build a se
Page 285 and 286: 23 In Even if the Reserve Bank deci
Page 287 and 288: 25 possibilities for reforming our
Page 289 and 290: 27 1905. 2 Michael Reddell of the R
Page 291 and 292: 2 Taxation Policies Before I discus
Page 293 and 294: 4 But, like other assets, realest
Page 295 and 296: 6 Most taxes fall on work. It makes
Page 297 and 298: 8 slows down the increasing gap bet
Page 299 and 300: 10 Bob Keall has also proposed taxe
Page 301 and 302: 12 ways of avoiding paying tax. Tax
Page 303 and 304: 14 Ltd, 1879. 3 Henry George, Socia
Page 305 and 306: 2 of reserves, a single exchange ra
Page 307 and 308: 4 revealed to show that they wanted
Page 309 and 310: 6 Countries using the Australian do
Page 311: 8 3 Helen Clark in an interview on
Page 315 and 316: 4 feeling that the banks were not t
Page 317 and 318: 6 terminals per 100,000 people, com
Page 319 and 320: 8 to lend to groups rather than ind
Page 321 and 322: 10 Islamic Banks Banks run along st
Page 323 and 324: 12 decided to create an entirely ne
Page 325 and 326: 14 Attempts to Start New Banks In 1
Page 327 and 328: 16 During the local body election c
Page 329 and 330: 18 Zealand Post was that there was
Page 331 and 332: 20 Problem numbertwo — fees going
Page 333 and 334: 22 Other microcredit schemes. A goo
Page 335 and 336: 24 now operates are the Cooperati
Page 337 and 338: 26 They donManchester Unity does no
Page 339 and 340: 28 The Wellington Women’s Loan Fu
Page 341 and 342: 30 The Future of Community Banking
Page 343 and 344: 32 8 Quoted in ‘Banks Profit Exce
Page 345 and 346: 34 45 Details of Consumers’ Insti
Page 347 and 348: 2 created when commercial banks iss
Page 349 and 350: 4 Fund (IMF) protect global corpora
Page 351 and 352: 6 economic thinking and taxation sy
Page 353 and 354: 8 It is not easy to start again and
Page 355 and 356: 10 rest of the world, a US deficit
Page 357 and 358: 12 competitive when the money syste
Page 359 and 360: 14 environmentally friendly longt
Page 361 and 362: 16 practitioners know a great deal
Page 363 and 364:
18 moneycreation regime will natu
Page 365 and 366:
20 international currencies. Some o
Page 367 and 368:
22 and James Garfield have struggle
Page 369 and 370:
24 away and the scientific programm
Page 371 and 372:
26 Sources of Hope There are ground
Page 373 and 374:
28 beneficial effects. Indigenous i
Page 375 and 376:
30 taught me that some staff are re
Page 377 and 378:
32 New Zealand’s isolation, humil
Page 379 and 380:
34 • Visit Bali or Japan or any o
Page 381 and 382:
36 Although such a system will not
Page 383 and 384:
1 Ralph Chaplin Bars and Shadows. 2
Page 385 and 386:
and narrated by Bill Still, and ava
Page 387 and 388:
11 Lietaer, The Future of Money, p3
Page 389 and 390:
37 Allison Stinson, ‘Developments
Page 391 and 392:
4 Roy Madron and John Jopling, Gaia
Page 393 and 394:
25 Viviane Forrester, The Economic
Page 395 and 396:
2 Michael Rowbotham, The Grip of De
Page 397 and 398:
25 Text of the Genoa G8 Summit, acc
Page 399 and 400:
18 The Independent, 21 July 1999. 1
Page 401 and 402:
14 Wolfgang Rosenberg, Money in New
Page 403 and 404:
6 Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life: A
Page 405 and 406:
11 Bernard Lietaer, ‘The Future o
Page 407 and 408:
39 1.1 Warehouse receipts. (The fin
Page 409 and 410:
41 2.3 By a commercial company, sma
Page 411 and 412:
43 Summary of Complementary Currenc
Page 413 and 414:
45 000) volunteers. Credits are put
Page 415 and 416:
47 the currency generating enthusia
Page 417 and 418:
140 Appendix 2: Useful Websites Gen
Page 419 and 420:
142 writings of evolutionary biolog
Page 421 and 422:
144 Green Dollars/LETS www.appropri
Page 423 and 424:
146 www.earthsharing.org.au An Aust
Page 425 and 426:
148 Email: bryank@earthsharing.org.
Page 427 and 428:
Bibliography 1 Books and Chapters i
Page 429 and 430:
3 Douthwaite, Richard, The Ecology
Page 431 and 432:
5 Henderson, Hazel, Beyond Globaliz
Page 433 and 434:
7 Mitchell, Ralph A., and Shafer, N
Page 435 and 436:
9 Cobb, Clifford, ‘Displacing Bad
Page 437 and 438:
Turnbull, Shann, ‘Why Reducing Ta
Page 439 and 440:
The Guardian (UKbased daily) The
Page 441 and 442:
1 Glossary Barter The direct exchan
Page 443 and 444:
3 shared land ownership. Koha The M
show all

Healthy Money Healthy Planet - library.uniteddiversity.coop

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?