Caroline Whyte

Contributors to Fleeing Vesuvius

Biographical information about the 27 contributors to Fleeing Vesuvius.

Patrick Andrews qualified as a solicitor in 1988 and spent many years working in the UK and abroad for large corporations, specialising in cross-border transactions. In 2002 he left the corporate world, driven by a concern about its impact on society and the planet. He now teaches and writes about alternatives to conventional ownership and governance structures, and works with business leaders devising new ways of organising. He helped develop a radical financial and governance structure for Riversimple LLP. He lives in the New Forest in England with his wife …

Contents of Fleeing Vesuvius

This includes a brief summary of each article in the book.

Money, Democracy and Human Rights

Caroline Whyte
Date: November 23, 2006
Venue: Malmö Högskola, Malmö, Sweden
This seminar was part of the Swedish Human Rights Forum (MR-Dagarna), a two-day event which takes place every year at a different venue in Sweden. More information can be found on the forum website at www.mrdagarna.se.…

Short Circuit

Short Circuit: Strengthening Local Economies in an Unstable World
by Richard Douthwaite. Expanded online edition published June 2003 with updates by Richard Douthwaite, Joanne Elliott and Caroline Whyte. Read Short Circuit online in its entirety.
Download pdf version(6 MB)

The global economy can no longer be relied upon to provide the necessities of life. Even in wealthy countries, the vagaries of free trade and the unimpeded movement of capital pose a threat not just to job security but to food and energy supplies as well.

Short Circuit proposes that each community build an independent local economy capable of supplying the goods and services its people would need should the mainstream economy collapse. It details the financial structures necessary for self-reliance, and it describes the techniques already in use in pioneering communities across the industrialized world. These inculde local currency schemes and community banks that enable local interest rates and credit terms to differ from those in the world economy. Efforts to meet local food and energy requirements using local resources are also reviewed.