Healthy Money Healthy Planet - library.uniteddiversity.coop

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writing in my office, we commented on how audacious it was that two grandmothers
were out to transform the world’s money system!
I am writing this book because I want a great world for my grandchildren. I want them
to come out of tertiary education without the burden of a huge student loan. I want
them to live in a world where they feel they can make a difference and where they can
influence their own local and national governments if they choose to. I want them to
live in abundance, not scarcity.
My adult children now work longer hours, and struggle to find their
work/leisure balance. Those who aren’t worried about how they will pay their rent,
electricity and phone bills are worried about how they can buy a house, pay car
expenses or have good­quality childcare. They worry about children eating junk food
and about how to have good educational systems.
Superannuation is still a political football. Many of my retired or semi­retired
friends are dependent on income from unit trusts or pension funds, which are
irrevocably bound up with the unstable world economy, or else they are dependent on
renting out their investment flats to tenants with insecure job futures. Some are
concerned about whether their investments are being used to fund armaments, tobacco
or gambling.
This book is my contribution to the conversation about how we can preserve this
beautiful planet for our grandchildren. I say we can do this only by transforming both
our money system and the way we organise our economic and decision­making
systems. The gremlins in our counting house must also be exposed for all to see. I will
argue that to have an abundant, sustainable and just economic system we need
interest­free money at every level of organisation – international, national and local – to
complement the scarce money we have now. Money created as interest­bearing debt