Since money was invented, there has been a debate about better ways of creating it and better rules to govern how it works - until the last generation, when it began to seem that the money system had been handed down by God and remained unchanged ever since. But the last few years have seen an increasingly powerful resurgence of interest in changing the system fundamentally, and bringing the monetary trends that affect all our lives under our control. Few realize that the debate has roots and a tradition, covering mainstream economists like Keynes and Hayek, statesmen like Lincoln, entrepreneurs like Ford and Soros, as well as the imaginative mavericks behind local currencies and e-money. This volume collects together some of their most influential writings to provide a handbook on a vital train of ideas, and a guide to a debate on changing money that is becoming increasingly important.

About the author(s)

David Boyle is a senior associate at the New Economics Foundation in London and is the author of Funny Money (1999) and The Tyranny of Numbers (2001).

Contents

Introduction: The Failure of Money * Part I: The Trouble with Money: There isn't enough of it * Part II: The Trouble with Money: There's too Much of it * Part III: The Trouble with Money: It's Corrupt * Part IV: Democratic Money * Part V: Future Money * Part VI: Create Your Own: Real Money * Part VII: Create Your Own: Free Money * Index