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Money doesn’t grow on trees or so they say

May 31st, 2007

They also say that money makes the world go round…well metaphorically it does. It oils the wheels of commerce and enables us to transact with each other and exchange our goods and services.

But how does money actually grow? There always seems to be more of it around. Who creates it?

You probably assume your local central bank does because only they can print notes and coins. That much is true but that’s only a bit of the story. Currently only 2-3% of the total money supply is created in the form of notes and coins that we keep in our wallets and purses.

The rest? Well as JK Galbriath noted the way in which most money is created is “so simple that the mind is repelled”. The private banking system simply create the balance of new money by issuing new loans.

That’s it. For those of you who thought banks lent out money you have deposited with them i’m sorry to inform you that this is not the case.

If you deposit $1000 in the bank, they now have the ability to lend out (and in the process create new money) up to $10000. Of course they charge interest on that loan which is where they make their huge profits from.

I’ll give you an example:

In New Zealand the money supply has increased 101% in the last 8 years. So the total money stock has more than doubled in 8 years!! In that time house prices have risen 143%.

But the official measure of inflation has only risen 20%. Hello…..what is going on here? Yes it is a complete mess.

It is not the central bank or government printing money and causing huge (but unmeasured inflation). It’s the private banks who are doing it! The ones who scream and shout if governments ever think about reclaiming their right to issue money interest free on behalf of their citizens.

It is one of the greatest swindles of in history.

It requires that people sit up, take notice and look hard at what is happening around them. In the US especially the system is starting to creak…..look at the housing market and the lenders that operate in it.

Please see the following sites for more information. Once you learn about this life will never be the same

US: www.monetary.org

UK: www.monetaryreformparty.org.uk

Can: www.comer.org

Aus: www.peoplesbankparty.org

As my old history teacher said read, learn and inwardly digest.

Tags: bank of england, banking, central banks, debt, economics, federal reserve, housing, inflation, interest, interest free banking, money, money reform, mortgage, new zealand, parliment, policy ideas, politics, reserve bank of new zealand, sustainability, usury

One Response to “Money doesn’t grow on trees or so they say”

  1. sustento.org.nz » Blog Archive » The Nature of Money Says:
    June 10th, 2007 at 3:14 am

    [...] a previous post Does Money Grow on Trees? i looked at how money comes into existence but in a broad sense of the [...]

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    I’m a Londoner who moved to Christchurch, New Zealand in 2002. After studying economics and finance at Manchester University and a couple of years of backpacking I ended up working in the financial markets in London. I traded the global financial markets on behalf of investment banks for 11 years. In 1998 I decided to explore the underlying financial system in more detail and its impact on society. The results were startling! In 2000 I decided to leave banking and explore new opportunities. I helped start up Trucost, an environmental research company, exploring ways of placing a value on ecosystem services. In 2002 I moved with my family to Christchurch, New Zealand. Since then I have returned to University studying political science and helped start up another company, VortexDNA, which explores the science of human intention and its predictive abilities. I am an active Angel investor, mainly in clean tech and web 2.0, and also volunteer for local community organisations in the areas of finance and mentoring. I am always keen to make new connections and hear about new ideas. Contact me directly on raf AT sustento.org.nz

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