Results for: "mutual credit"

Mutual credit schemes are designed to supplement national currencies, not replace them. However, there are now plans afoot to build a global system called Credit Commons, by allowing local schemes to intertrade. Read more

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There are some very interesting aspects to the Equal Care Co-op, including ‘Teams’, sociocratic decision-making and an internal payments system that could be described as a cross between mutual credit, timebanking, tokenising, and recognition of informal labour, including emotional labour and care work. Read more

I’ve been working in the environmental field for over 20 years, and I believe, like the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, that we’re headed for ‘biological annihilation’, and like the good folk at the Dark Mountain Project, that a crash is coming that we may or may not recover from Read more

See yesterday’s blog post for an introduction to this article. This is an interview with Matthew Slater, who co-authored the Money & Society MOOC, a free masters level multidisciplinary online course. He co-drafted the Credit Commons white paper, a proposal for a global solidarity economy money system Read more

I often trawl the web just speculatively looking for new people or new ideas, clicking on links from interesting sites. TEDx talks are a favourite. A few years ago I came across an intriguing TEDx talk by Professor Jem Bendell called ‘the Money Myth’. Read more

We’re working with other groups, including Open.coop, the Credit Commons Collective and author Tom Greco to build a UK-wide mutual credit network. Read more

Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Here we’re looking at savings and investments in a mutual credit world, as well as the importance of physical location. Read more

At Lowimpact.org, we’ve been banging on about something called ‘mutual credit’ for about 3 or 4 years now – constantly trying to think of ways to explain it that can be grasped really quickly. We think it really is a world-changing idea – in that it can help keep wealth in communities, keep small businesses… Continue reading Explaining mutual credit to small business owners Read more

Working alongside our partners at The Open Co-op, the Open Credit Network, a UK mutual credit network, is starting to win support from organisations like Goodmoney and Finance Lab. Matthew Slater shares how you can get involved. Read more

Today I’m talking with Thomas Greco, who taught economics, finance and statistics for 14 years at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, and is now an activist and consultant working on alternatives to the current money system. He also wrote the End of Money and the Future of Civilisation. I came across this book… Continue reading Why the future of money is mutual credit (and not Bitcoin): Interview with Thomas H Greco Jr. Read more

This is the fifth in a series of articles looking at the development of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Here we’re looking at community groups and individual consumers. Read more

Here’s a conversation with Emmanuel Savard, co-founder of a group in Costa Rica that’s looking at providing all the essentials of life – food production, housing and energy – for their town via regenerative, non-extractive, sustainable, community-based exchange and investment models. Read more

Looking ahead to a future post-capitalism, Dil Green of NonCorporate.org shares how and why he’s working on mutual credit as one of its core pillars. This piece was originally published on the blog ‘Digital Anthropology‘. Read more

This is the fourth in a series of articles looking at the development of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Here we’re looking at local authorities and anchor institutions Read more

Invitation to apply to work with Mutual Credit Services. We’ve got more work in prospect than we can handle, and what we really need now is more creative human capacity. Read more

Third in a series of articles looking at the development of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together to form a global moneyless trading network – the ‘Credit Commons’. Read more

Today I’m talking with Shaila Agha of the Sarafu Network about ‘chamas’ and mutual credit, and how they’re changing Africa. Read more

This is an informal chat with Phil Christopher of Huff & Puff Construction. He’s a natural builder who has registered his business with the Open Credit Network. He sees mutual credit as a way to build an alternative economy – sustainable, based on small- and medium-sized businesses, and embedded in communities. We talk about ways… Continue reading Natural building and mutual credit: Phil Christopher of Huff & Puff Construction Read more

This is the third and final part of an interview with weaver and mutual credit enthusiast Eloise Sentito of These Isles, in which we talk about the prices of craft produce, and how mutual credit can help. Part 1 contained advice for anyone considering a career as a weaver, and part 2 was about the… Continue reading Craft production, prices and mutual credit: weaving Read more

This is Part 2 of a conversation between Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org / the Open Credit Network and Chris Huskins, a smallholder tenant of the Ecological Land Co-operative, starting a veg box scheme in East Sussex, building his own home, and looking to trade via mutual credit. Read more

This is the first in a series of articles over the next week or so about how mutual credit can help us get through the economic problems caused by the corona virus. The main points to get across are: There’s going to be a shortage of money. Mutual credit is a moneyless trading system. That’s… Continue reading Mutual credit is a solution to the COVID-19 economic crisis Read more

This is the second in a series of articles this week about how mutual credit can help us get through the economic problems caused by the corona virus. The main points to get across are: There’s going to be a shortage of money. Mutual credit is a moneyless trading system. That’s it! Mutual credit can… Continue reading Covid-19 Mutual Aid Groups should look to Mutual Credit for economic resilience Read more

This is the third in a series of articles about how mutual credit can help us get through the economic problems caused by the corona virus. The main points to get across are: There’s going to be a shortage of money. Mutual credit is a moneyless trading system. That’s it! Mutual credit can help local… Continue reading The exchange medium for the coronavirus crisis: crypto or mutual credit? Read more

of Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together in a global trading network. Here we provide a basic explanation of the Credit Commons Protocol. Read more

This is the third in a series of articles about community wealth building and mutual credit, by Dave Darby and Dil Green of Lowimpact.org and the Open Credit Network. Read more

This post follows on from yesterday’s, about community wealth building. Tomorrow, Dil Green explains how community wealth building and mutual credit could be a match made in heaven. Read more

Are you an accountant? Do you have an accountant? Do you know an accountant? If you could bring this article to their attention, we think they might find it interesting – it’s an idea that can be very useful for accountants, to help keep their small business clients afloat during the post-covid economic slump. Read more

This is Part 2 of an interview with Tom Woodroof, who made the move from the world of nuclear physics to the world of mutual credit and monetary change. I’m going to find out more about his work, and how it can contribute to (quite revolutionary) change. Read more

Members of the Lowimpact.org co-op are involved with Mutual Credit Services (MCS), whose mission is to help build local mutual credit ‘clubs’ in the UK and overseas, and to link them together in a global trading network. We’re often asked about the current state of play, and so we’ve put together a series of 6 articles to explain what progress we’ve made. Read more

Today I’m interviewing Laurence Anderson of Tradeswap – a mutual credit network in Australia. I’m very interested in what you’re up to Laurence, because as you know, a group of us are trying to set up mutual credit networks in the UK, with a view to building a global credit commons. Read more

The Money & Society MOOC was launched by Matthew Slater and Jem Bendell in 2014. In four dense but perfectly assimilable 2-hour videos, it blows open your understanding of economics, in an incredibly liberating and empowering way. Read more

Today I’m talking with Mercedes Bidart, of Quipu Markets. Mercedes, you’re from Argentina, the project was born at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where you did a Masters; and the project is being launched in Colombia. So it’s a very pan-American project. Read more

This is Part 1 of an interview with Tom Woodroof of Mutual Credit Services, who made the shift from the world of nuclear physics to the world of mutual credit. Read more

Dil Green had the original idea for ‘mutual credit clubs’ that can federate to create a new global trading system. He’s brought together a group of people to form Mutual Credit Services (MCS) to start to build this federation (new website coming soon). Read more

This is the second in a series of interviews that will accompany a book I’m writing, that will be published by Chelsea Green – an employee-owned company, and part of the new economy that the book is describing, built around a mutual credit core. Here’s more on the book deal and here’s some introductory information… Continue reading Building the Credit Commons with Mutual Credit Clubs: Matthew Slater Read more

This is the third in a series of interviews that will accompany a book I’m writing, that will be published by Chelsea Green – an employee-owned company, and part of the new economy that the book is describing, built around a mutual credit core. Today I’m talking with Chris Cook. He was the designer of… Continue reading Storing value in a mutual credit world: Chris Cook Read more

I have a contract to produce a book about growing a new economy, in communities, with mutual credit at the core. This article is a listing of key resources: video interviews I’ve done with relevant people whilst researching the book, plus articles and websites providing additional information. Read more

Today I’m talking with Sue Bell, who was involved for many years in Brixton LETS and the Brixton Pound. She’s now part of a group called Mutual Credit Services (MCS), formed to build mutual credit clubs and to federate them together to build a new kind of moneyless trading system. I want to talk about… Continue reading What happened to LETS systems? Sue Bell of Mutual Credit Services Read more

This is the third part of an interview with Jon Halle of Sharenergy, about the prospects for keeping energy production local and mutualised. Here we talk about community energy, mutual credit and mutualisation of the economy. Read more

I’d like to introduce Will Ruddick, who set up the Grassroots Economics Foundation in Kenya around ten years ago, that runs a very successful mutual credit network (called the Sarafu Network) there. Read more

Nothing we do to try to move to a sustainable, healthy and democratic society will work as long as we have the current money system, because money has two conflicting functions. It can be used to buy and sell things, and it can be used to store, hoard, accumulate and become wealthy with. As long… Continue reading Saving and investment in a mutual credit world Read more

Matthew Slater, co-author of the Credit Commons white paper, produces a biannual roundup of money news he finds interesting. Lowimpact is partnering with (and sharing some personnel with) the newly-launched Credit Commons Society, formed to promote and oversee the development of a global ‘Credit Commons’ – a network of mutual credit, complementary currency and other groups all over… Continue reading Matthew Slater’s reviews of money news Read more

Lowimpact.org are working closely with Mutual Credit Services, the Credit Commons Society, Island Power and Local Loop Lancaster & Morecambe to help build commons institutions / a new, commons economy. New ideas are emerging that are summarised here. These new ideas allow us to take infrastructure into common ownership without incurring debt – which I think is the main reason that (much as… Continue reading Building the commons economy Read more

Here’s a quick and dirty history of money, but keep in mind that we mustn’t think of ‘money’ in long-gone societies as being similar to ours. Their words for money may have meant very different things – maybe receipts or IOUs or even tax vouchers. In modern Europe, coins were introduced about 1000 years before… Continue reading Brief history of money Read more

Conventional banks have been given a state monopoly on the creation of money-as-debt, with compound interest attached. You couldn’t invent a system that concentrates wealth and damages nature more, if you tried. Read more

by Matthew Slater This proposal argues that the barter industry is captive to its software providers, and that a different, community-owned, model of software ownership could free the barter industry from the poor practices and over-extraction that now hold it back. Read more

Ways to reduce outgoings (and be healthier and happier). Please send us more ideas. Read more

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We’re a co-op, governed via a monthly meeting of all members. Dave Darby founded Lowimpact.org in 2001, spent 3 years on the board of the Ecological Land Co-op and is a member of the Credit Commons Society and Stroud Commons. His role is managing website content, blogging and fundraising. Dil Green was an architect and… Continue reading Our people Read more

Our focus is changing. We’ve been promoting sustainable living since we were founded in 2001, but we believe that it’s ultimately impossible within corporate capitalism. Trying to live sustainably in a destructive system is like having a great health & safety policy on the Titanic – it seems fine until you see the bigger picture.… Continue reading About us Read more

The ‘impact’ we’re talking about is human impact on nature and on each other, which can be illustrated by comparing our high-impact culture with what we’d like to see instead. Food High-impact: Unhealthy, chemically-grown, processed, overpackaged food. Low-impact: Healthy, local, organic food.   Energy High-impact: Environmentally-destructive, fossil-fuel energy. Low-impact: Renewable energy.   Shelter High-impact: Identikit… Continue reading What low-impact looks like Read more

(Click image for larger version) Notes Read more

If you like what we’re about, join us. Membership: individual £2 per month (you get an epub book of your choice as a thank-you). £5 per month (you get access to an online course of your choice as a thank-you). Membership: business / organisation £10 per month (you get a banner ad on a topic… Continue reading Membership Read more

Someone said to me the other day that he associated ‘low-impact’ with lifestyle but not with politics or economics. Someone else asked why we blogged about TTIP, economic growth or system change when we were ‘just’ an environmental organisation. Read more

This is the first part of a conversation between Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Jem Bendell, professor of sustainability leadership at the University of Cumbria, and author of the now famous 2018 Deep Adaptation paper that claimed that we’re on an inevitable path to civilisational collapse. Read more

In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’ve been trying to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this spectrum… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 5. how ‘new economy’ thinking can unite left & right Read more

When an idea grows far beyond its original conception, develops its own culture, factions & internal dynamics, and through implementation compromises with the real world, it can become the very enemy of what it first espoused. Read more

Understanding the money system is key to understanding how the world works, where power really lies, what the implications of that are and what we can do about it. Read more

This is the first of a series of webinars on specific aspects of the money system and various alternatives to it. Read more

In the run-up to Christmas (or for non-Christians, the winter holiday period, if you prefer) I’m going to try to spread a little love with a series of articles looking at the growing polarisation of society along the left-right spectrum. I want to persuade as many of you as possible that positioning yourself on this… Continue reading The left vs right battle: 4. what left & right have in common Read more

We’re pleased to announce the launch of NonCorporate.org – our sister site, dedicated to helping people move away from multinational corporations (MNCs) for everything they need. Read more

This week we’re talking with Matthew Slater of the Credit Commons Collective, working to build a mutualist, credit-based alternative to the current money system. Read more

Dave Darby interviews Trevor Hilder of Web of Wealth, who is a specialist in Stafford Beer’s viable system model (VSM). Read more

Here’s a quick and dirty history of money. Since I’ve been involved in the mutual credit world, I’ve been reading various ‘history of money’ texts, and so I thought I’d organise the notes I’ve taken into a blog article. It’s a half-hour read, to accompany our new ‘Low-impact money’ topic, and I think it gives… Continue reading A brief history of money Read more

Today we’re talking with Jay Tompt, of the REconomy Project. This is part of a series of interviews with people who are helping to build a new economy. Read more

Hans-Florian Hoyer is a retired banker and academic who specialises in the history of credit clearing – especially credit clearing at medieval trade fairs. Credit clearing is a crucial part of building a new commons economy, because it reduces the need for money and banks in communities, and it helps small businesses survive through difficult times. Read more

Part 2 of an interview with Grace Rachmany, of DAO Leadership and Voice of Humanity. She has some very interesting ideas around currency design and building a new economy based on community / reputation. As with all our interviewees, we think you’ll be interested in her ideas, and what she’s up to. Read more

This is part 1 of a conversation with John Thackara – senior fellow of the Royal College of Art, visiting professor at Tongji University, Shanghai, founder and director of the Doors of Perception sustainable design conferences, and author of many books, including How to Thrive in the Next Economy. Read more

People usually conflate the two, but I want to try to persuade (mainly the right) that capitalism is nothing like a free market, and (mainly the left) that there’s nothing wrong with a truly free market. Read more

This is part 2 of a conversation with Micky Metts of Agaric – a co-op in Boston, Massachusetts that provides online tools for other co-ops. Part 1 is here. I told Micky about some of the meetings and discussions we’ve been having in the UK with people working to build ‘new economy’ infrastructure, like community… Continue reading Networking small businesses and co-ops to replace corporations: Micky Metts on the new economy Read more

The word ‘commons’ can mean different things to different people. We’ve been working with specialists to help build the commons economy, so we’d like to concisely describe what we mean, and how you can join us. Read more

At university, back in the 80s, we were taught about ‘the Tragedy of the Commons’ – an essay by Garrett Hardin, about how common resources are always abused, because humans are basically selfish. It seemed plausible at the time, but has since been shown to be false. Read more

Lowimpact.org are working with Open.coop to build a new, co-operative, moneyless, mutual credit trading system for the UK, with a view to joining many similar schemes around the world to create a new global trading system, that requires neither banks nor interest. The point of this article is to invite you, if you own or… Continue reading Become one of the first movers in a new, collaborative economy: Open Credit Network Alpha launch Read more

This is the latest in a series of articles documenting our group’s attempts to build the commons economy in Stroud, in a way that can be implemented in other towns, and connected together to build the foundations of a new, commons economy. It covers what we’ve done so far, and how people can get involved. Read more

In part 1 I described why a resilient economy needs be to separate from the failing capitalist juggernaut and that we need to start by finding new economic partners from without the Market. Read more

Thomas H. Greco, Jr., author of The End of Money and the Future of Civilization, shares just some of his wealth of knowledge about what works, and what doesn’t, when it comes to local currencies. Read more

This is the fifth in a series of articles about how mutual credit can help us get through the economic problems caused by the corona virus. The main points to get across are: There’s going to be a shortage of money. Mutual credit is a moneyless trading system. That’s it! Mutual credit can help local… Continue reading The global money system: not the kind of ‘normality’ we should return to after the coronavirus crisis is over Read more

This is the last of six articles this week about how we can keep local economies afloat during the coming economic slump. There is already a scarcity of money, as the coronavirus crisis forces businesses to lay off workers, and sole traders to give up. But it will get much worse. How can we keep… Continue reading Building the new economy: how to keep local economies trading in the economic slump caused by the coronavirus Read more

At Lowimpact.org we’re interested in helping to bring production back to communities, and so we’re talking with craftspeople, smallholders, natural builders, renewables installers and small business owners in our range of topics. I’ll be asking them about their jobs, and for advice for people who might be interested in doing similar things. Read more

Today I’m talking with Chris Cook, who designed and built the Iranian Oil Bourse (see Wikipedia for a timeline of the events Chris describes), which could help move the world away from the petrodollar. We’ll be talking more about that later. Read more

This is part 2 of an interview with Brian Czech (part 1 is here), the president of CASSE (Centre for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy). He served in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from 1999-2017, and as a visiting professor of natural resource economics in Virginia Tech’s National Capitol Region. Read more

Review of Brett Scott’s ‘Cloud Money’, a ‘convoluted payments circuitry, tied together by institutions you cannot see, but who can see you’. Read more

Career change? Making a living from weaving. At Lowimpact.org we’re interested in helping to bring production back to communities, and so we’re talking with craftspeople, smallholders, natural builders, renewables installers and small business owners in our range of topics. I’ll be asking them about their jobs, and for advice for people who might be interested… Continue reading Career change? Making a living from weaving Read more

This article accompanies and enlarges upon the interview with Dil Green that we published recently, as part of series of articles on a forthcoming book about building a new economy around a mutual credit core. Read more

Commons ideas have gone down well in Stroud and we have thriving groups in various sectors. We’ve been approached by formative groups in several towns in the UK and in other countries. Read more