Recommended literature on the topic Currency diversity

The idea that each country should have one currency is so deeply rooted in people’s minds that the possibility of multiple and concurrent currencies seems unthinkable. Monetary systems contribute to problems of high unemployment and social distress during financial and economic crisis, so reforms to increase the responsiveness and flexibility of the monetary system can […]

“Money – The Unauthorized Biography–From Coinage to Cryptocurrencies” by economist and asset manager Felix Martin answers the questions: what is money, and how does it work?The author challenges our conventional understanding of one of humankind’s greatest inventions. Martin describes how the Western idea of money emerged in the ancient world, and was shaped over the […]

“The Map” describes how to make the rich underused capacity of regional economies more visible. It shows how to engage individuals, businesses, voluntary groups and local government to share their underused assets to meet each others’ needs. The Map is both a vision and a practical action programme. Self-published pamphlet by local currency organizer/activist John […]

Rethinking Money by Bernard Lietaer and Jacqui Dunhttp://www.lietaer.com/writings/books/rethinking-money-by-bernard-lietaer-and-jacqui-dunnene points out that there is a way, in fact a thousand ways, to stop our current juggernaut towards global self-destruction. There is a system of solutions already in place in localities throughout the world where terrible problems have existed.  The changes came about, not through the redistribution of […]

This pamphlet explains the practical differences between national and local money – how local currencies work, what they can do that national money can’t do, and why they are needed. If you are lucky enough to have a local currency, find out why you should join it. If you don’t, you might be inspired to […]

“People Money – the Promise of Regional Currencies” is a comprehensive guide to the principles and practice of regional currencies. It shows how regional currencies can transform the lives and well-being of local communities, how they can sustain businesses, how local authorities can participate in their success and, consequently, why supporting regional currencies is of vital […]

“Debt: The First 5,000 Years” by anthropologist David Graeber, published in 2011, explores the history of debt and its role in barter, marriage, friendship, slavery, law, religion, war and government. It draws on the history and anthropology of a number of civilizations, from the first known records of debt from Sumer in 3000 BC up […]