Closed bhaugen closed 4 years ago
This conversation makes sense to me. I consider all fiat currencies to be, essentially, types of credit (or trust) which people extend-- often implicitly or obliviously-- to communities and their governments, including government-approved currency-issuing bodies. Such currency-issuing bodies may in some cases be considered "independent" group Agents, but also may be considered provisionally-accepted delegates of higher executive authorities which they ultimately serve.
I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with a community being perpetually in debt to its participants. As with all credit/debit relationships, it depends on how big the total debt of each agent is, compared to those agents' productive capacity and demonstrable responsibility (or lack thereof).
I should add too, one idea which excites me as an almost-anarchist is the idea that lean and responsible governing bodies could fund their nondiscretionary expenses entirely by issuing new community currency units in proportion to predicted economic growth. Thus, totally avoiding issues like income tax (or membership fee) accounting, collection and enforcement.
[Added note: I do not mean economic growth in the traditional sense of increased physical processes and consumption, although that can be a component. I mean growth in whatever is economically valued, including creative work and stewardship of community resources.]
This relates closely to some anti-tax MMT philosophies, although I believe that some targeted taxes (such as a carbon tax) would be rational and desirable in anything remotely resembling today's world.
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https://lab.allmende.io/valueflows/forum-valueflo-ws/-/issues/98.
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This is part of thinking about a mutual credit economy. Can't have an economy without making things.
Some excerpts from an email conversation between me, Matthew Slater, and Stephanie Rearick about this topic:
Bob Haugen:
Matthew Slater:
Stephanie Rearick:
Matthew Slater:
Stephanie Rearick:
Bob Haugen:
@matslats feel free to correct anything I said wrong here.
In that same thread, not related to production, but still interesting:
Matthew Slater: