The world is midway through a financial crisis. Many countries are on the brink of an economic depression with all the unemployment, inequality, stress and social friction that comes along with it. The crisis is one of economic uncertainty caused by sky high levels of public and private debt. The mathematics of the situation mean that there are hard times ahead if we ever want to pay this debt off. But the current economic mess was destined to happen. The logical flaws at the heart of our monetary system means that it is designed to fail.

If the terms “fiat currency” and “fractional reserve banking” are a mystery to you, chances are that you understand the concept of money as what it used to be and not what it is now. But the our political leaders and the mainstream media are operating off these misconceptions too. Given that money is one of the principle forces that drives human activity, it is essential that we understand what it is, how it is created and how this lubricant is injected into the engine that is the world economy.

The truth of how illogical the current system is will shock you. It will help explain why banks are so powerful, why house prices are so high, why we regularly have recessions and why the current wave of austerity driven government cuts are completely avoidable. If we choose to continue with the current system there will be a lot of unnecessary suffering as living conditions are continually squeezed and there will be an economic excuse to not deal with so many of the critically important social and environmental issues we currently face. We can create an economic system that works for all people and helps steer human activity towards an economy that operates within planetary limits, one that is actually sustainable. But we need to know how the current system works first.

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