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Healthy Money Healthy Planet - library.uniteddiversity.coop

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10<br />

rest of the world, a US deficit of more than US$500 billion<br />

and a declining dollar. As imports pour into US they are<br />

paid for in US Treasury bonds and other securities. One<br />

day the debtors are going to get touchy and dump them,<br />

leading to a collapse of the dollar and major international<br />

economic collapse. An international conference (along the<br />

lines of that held in Bretton Woods in 1944 – see Chapter 4)<br />

should be held as soon as possible to develop a more<br />

suitable currency for global trade. The adoption of the selfstabilising<br />

commodity­based international currency<br />

advocated by Bernard Lietaer (see Chapter 14) is an<br />

exciting possibility, and so is the currency linked to carbon<br />

emission rights as proposed by Richard Douthwaite (see<br />

Chapter 14).<br />

Why Introduce Complementary Currencies?<br />

While not all the ills of the world are attributable to<br />

our dysfunctional financial system, it is obviously a major<br />

culprit. Instead of focusing on reforming national<br />

currencies alone, we need to add to it and organise new

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