transformative finance

Conventionally we consider demographic changes (birth control, women’s health, controlled migration), innovative technology (renewable energies), exponential economic growth (austerity versus deficit spending, redistribution) and global governance (human rights, democracy, institution-building) as the four major components of any future narrative. But there is a missing link. There is no way to envision and manage our future without rethinking and reshaping our monetary system. Over 80% of the world population does not benefit adequately from existing financial institutions. Every endeavor that fails to offer a solid financial plan to address the upcoming challenges—from alleviating poverty to accessing health care, to entering schooling, to finding a job, to tackling the degradation of the environment to name but a few—remains a purely rhetorical exercise. The amount of money we currently distribute to (global) commons (sustainable development goals, SDGs) remains below 0.7% of global GDP and is one gear to slow and one scale too small to finance our future. The only way to finance our future is to enlarge and transform our international trading and payment systems and the role of monetary regulators. A new, evidence-based and out-of-the-box approach mainstream economy is currently missing completely is necessary. In a nutshell: it is a parallel monetary system, operating optionally and complementarily to the given system, which is going to be the game changer. And we are talking about big money. Research has demonstrated a 6 trillion USD bill necessary to—really—finance our common future. The elephant is in the room, but nobody wants to talk about it. In an era of ‘the new normal (zero interest rate)’ where capital comes for free, it will always outperform human labor. There is fine and subtle but distinctive difference between redistributing money and a pre-distributing mechanism that ensures a living (social security, education, minimum wages, a decent pension, access to health care, environmental protection) before we start the competitive game between Mr. Joe and Mr. Yang, between labor and capital, between corporates around the world, between the current and the next generation and between mankind and nature. This entails new forms of social entrepreneurship, a new lifestyle, and post-growth strategies operating successfully within a new, parallel monetary system. The future wealth of nations requires a transformative mechanism that is not only beneficial for the 1% (digital natives, asset managers, those with inherited wealth and IT technologists), but for the other 99%, too. If this sounds too complicated, just call me or see: http://cadmusjournal.org/node/505