Quick Look
A timely book which demystifies the subjects of money, banking and finance and looks to the future for the next stage of money's evolution.
Description
This book couldn't be more timely, given the current economic situation.
Like the proverbial fish that doesn’t know what water is, we swim in an economy built on money that few of us comprehend. And what we don’t know is hurting us. The End of Money and the Future of Civilization demystifies the subjects of money, banking and finance by tracing historical landmarks and important evolutionary shifts that have changed the essential nature of money. Greco’s masterful work lays out the problems and then looks to the future for the next stage in money’s evolution that can liberate us from the current grip of centralized and politicized money power.
Greco provides specific design proposals and exchange-system architectures for local, regional, national, and global financial systems. He offers innovative strategies for their implementation and outlines actions that grassroots organizations, businesses, and governments will need to take to achieve success.
Table of Contents
1 My Purpose and My Journey
2 Mega-Crisis and Metamorphosis -- Can Civilization Be Saved?
3 The Contest for Rulership -- Two Opposing Philosophies
4 Central Banking and the Rise of the Money Power
5 The New World Order
6 Usury and the Engine of Destruction
7 The Nature and Cause of Inflation
8 The Separation of Money and State
9 The Evolution of Money -- From Commodity Money to Credit Money
10 The Third Evolutionary Stage -- The Emergence of Credit Clearing
11 Solving the Money Problem
12 Credit Clearing, the 'UnMoney'
13 The State of the Alternative Exchange Movement
14 How Complementary Currencies Succeed or Fail
15 Commercial Trade Exchanges -- Their Present Limitations and Potential Future
16 A Regional Economic Development Plan Based on Credit Clearing
17 The Next Big Thing in Business: A Complete Web-based Trading
Platform
18 Organizational Forms and Structures for Local Self-Determination and
Complementary Exchange
19 The Role of Governments in Establishing Economic and Financial
Stability
20 Exchange, Finance, and the Store of Value
Reviews
'Thomas H Greco Jr's new book on money challenges the growth fetish and gives practical examples of how community-based exchange systems can save the economy, and the environment, from collapse. The title is intriguing enough to make you pick it up and for a financially-challenged person like me, it is an eye-opener. The style of writing is clear and crisp… A refreshing read into the ails of the current global financial system. The book leaves you thinking that given the political will and empowerment of grassroots and community -based systems, the environment and civilisation as we know it is not doomed after all.'
-- Jaswinder Kaur, The Ecologist, October 2009
'This book cuts to the very core of the [global financial] trouble -- and points toward several pathways that might allow us to slowly climb out of the pit into which we’ve stumbled.'
-- Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy
'If anything could save this civilization from the calamity to which its economic madness has led it -- the unrelenting pursuit of materialism, the starkly inequitable division of wealth, the despoliation of the earth for profit -- it would be the widespread adoption of the wisdom embodied in Tom Greco’s clear and forthright new book.'
-- Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale
'For the growing ranks of monetary reformers worldwide, long-time expert Tom Greco’s deeply researched new book is essential reading. This gripping blend of theory and practicality lays out all the options for creating saner money and credit systems.'
-- Hazel Henderson, author of Ethical Markets
'This book is a concise and efficient way to get up to speed on the history of alternatives to conventional 'money' as well as enter the new world of technologically liberated exchange that has the potential to bring about the end of money as we have known it.'
-- Paul Grignon, creator of the movie Money as Debt
'Thomas Greco, in his new book The End of Money and the Future of Civilization, outlines the increasingly familiar story of how things got so bad, and tells it as well as anyone has ever done. His style is precise and sometimes academic. Behind it though, is a passion for truth and the type of rock-solid integrity that refuses to sugar-coat a very bitter pill.'
-- Richard C. Cook author of We Hold the Truths: The Hope of Monetary Reform
'With this book Tom Greco not only demonstrates a profound understanding of the nature of money, won through a lifetime of dedicated research, but he also manages to convey this understanding in a clear well-written and fascinating narrative. For this he deserves acclaim'
-- Arthur Edwards, New View, Spring 2010
'Full to bursting with examples and ideas of alternative economic structures'
-- The Friend, March 2010
'With this book Tom Greco not only demonstrates a profound understanding of the nature of money, won through a lifetime of dedicated research, but he also manages to convey this understanding in a clear, well-written and fascinating narrative. For this he deserves acclaim… Greco's account is technical, historical, pratical and to some degree visionary… It is written is comprehensive lay terms without losing any of the power of its insightful analysis.'
-- Arthur Edwards, New View, Spring 2010
Author
Thomas H. Greco, Jr. is a leading authority on free-market approaches to monetary and financial innovation, including cashless exchange systems. A former engineer, entrepreneur, and college professor, Greco is a sought-after advisor and speaker at conferences internationally. He is the author of Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender, New Money for Healthy Communities, and Money and Debt: A Solution to the Global Crisis.
You can also visit the author's own website at http://www.reinventingmoney.com
