Info, news & debate
Use-credit obligations
Regenerative traditions in Africa: inspiration for the commons everywhere
Building the commons may be hard in wealthier countries, where traditions of mutual aid were lost many years ago. But they’re still alive and well in other parts of the world – as this article by Janet of Grassroots Economics / Sarafu Network shows. I interviewed the director of Grassroots Economics, Shaila Agha, who told me about ‘chamas’ in Kenya – mutual savings groups, built on trusted relationships in local communities.
Stroud Commons part 3: ‘Money Talks’ public event with Brett Scott, May 19
Stroud ‘commoners club’ is hosting a public event at the Trinity Rooms in Stroud on Friday, May 19 at 7pm. If you live in Stroud, please do come along, and if you know anyone in Stroud, please let them know.
Matthew Slater’s review of recent money news
Matthew Slater, co-author of the Credit Commons white paper, produces a biannual (usually!) roundup of money news he finds interesting. Here’s the latest.
Stroud Commons part 2: starting a ‘commoners club’
A group of us in Stroud (Gloucs) have formed a ‘commoners club’ to try to build commons infrastructure here, and to document what happens so that it can be replicated in other towns.
Career change? Work with Mutual Credit Services
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.
Commons housing: another brief explainer, this time by Dil Green
Brief introduction to a new model of commons housing to replace the current, broken housing market.
Stroud Commons part 1: We’re putting our house into the ‘commons’. Follow our progress and replicate it in your community
In 2023 I’d like to see a move towards a new system, rather than futile attempts to ‘fix’ capitalism. I don’t think it’s necessary to to try to persuade the majority of people of this. There are enough of us already to kick-start the necessary change. I’d just like to bring to your attention the new ideas that are emerging for building this new system – the commons economy.
Building the energy commons: Marcus Saul of Island Power
Interview with Marcus Saul of Island Power, an energy company with incredible ideas that could be world-changing, in terms of building a new kind of (commons) economy.
How to contribute to the Credit Commons Society
Fancy doing something new, interesting, rewarding and potentially world-changing in the new year?
Matthew Slater, co-author of the Credit Commons white paper explains how you can join an interesting group of people, and contribute to the development of the Credit Commons Society.
A range of new monetary tools for a completely new economy: Tom Woodroof of Mutual Credit Services, Part 2
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.
Introducing the Credit Commons Society
The Credit Commons Society has been formed to promote and educate about, and to govern the Credit Commons protocol as it evolves to serve the needs of more groups, in the same way that the Linux Foundation looks after the Linux operating system.
How to spread the idea of (much) more radical change?
We need system change, no less (i.e. system replacement, rather than trying to tweak this fundamentally damaging system). Here, I want to talk more about how I came to this conclusion, and what the route to radical change might be.
New tools and ideas for building the commons economy
The Commons economy is not, like capitalism, built around the private ownership of the means of production – but neither is it, like socialism, built on the state ownership of those means. It’s about reinstating the commons, that have been gradually enclosed over the centuries, first by the state and more recently by capitalists.
Reflections on building the ‘Commons’ economy
Lowimpact has been around since 2001, and we’ve provided lots of ways to help people live more sustainably. We’re going to also be focusing on how to build the ‘commons’ economy in future, as a viable alternative to the status quo.
Building the new economy with mutual credit in Costa Rica
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.
Community energy, mutual credit and the mutualist economy
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.
Saving and investment in a mutual credit world
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 …
Storing value in a mutual credit world: Chris Cook
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 …
Chris Cook’s tour of the oil markets: from Nixon to Trump
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.