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Healthy Money Healthy Planet - library.uniteddiversity.coop

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14<br />

environmentally friendly long­term investments such as<br />

solar water systems, small electricity generators, wind<br />

power, upgrading sewerage systems and restoring<br />

depleted soils to grow organic food. Likewise only our<br />

imagination constrains us from the endless possibilities for<br />

investment in pubic infrastructure.<br />

As time goes by, people will inevitably experiment<br />

with different combinations of monetary innovations, so<br />

that a sizeable regional electronic currency with a<br />

demurrage could coexist happily with a time banking<br />

system and commercial barter, the three together could<br />

bring measurable benefits for a region, especially if the<br />

regional currency was accepted for rates. As<br />

complementary currencies grow in number and<br />

effectiveness, their benefits will become more obvious.<br />

Within a couple of decades of their use, some 20–30 per<br />

cent of a local economy could be run with interest­free or<br />

negative­interest money.<br />

Now is a good time for experimentation. Some<br />

experiments are bound to fail, but lessons will be learnt.

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