local currencies

The Transition Towns Movement; its huge significance, and a friendly criticism

by Ted Trainer. The only way the alarming global sustainability and justice problems can be solved is via a Transition Towns movement of some kind. At present the rapidly growing movement is inspiring, but there is an urgent need for critical thought about vision, goals, and means. There is a serious risk that without this it will not make a significant contribution to solving our problems.

Ludwig Schuster – A New Monetary Pluralism: from a recombination of regional economic circles to investing in a sustainable future.

Ludwig Schuster, who advises many of complementary currency systems that have sprung up in Germany, looked at the role that money systems have to play in moving economies away from the exponential growth paradigm. He argued that, as different activities offer different benefits, special currencies may be needed for particular purposes.

Review of the Second Feasta Review by James Robertson

from James Robertson’s December 2004 newsletter.

This fine collection of high-quality items (207 double-column pages), edited by Richard Douthwaite and John Jopling, and published in November 2004 by the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability in Dublin, is something special. […] It can be read online at www.feasta.org/documents/review2/index.htm.

On that page, there’s also an option to order it for £9.95 from Green Books.

Unlike Feasta Review No.1 (2001), this one has a title – “GROWTH: THE CELTIC CANCER: Why the global economy damages our health and society”. But potential readers should not be misled into supposing the Review …