SYNOPSISProposal for an English edition of THE MONEY SYNDROME by Helmut Creutz | ||
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Summary | The majority of literature dealing with problems in the
economy or associated fields, such as society and the environment,
concentrates mainly on decisions made in economic, financial or political
institutions and organizations and offers solutions on these planes.
Little attention, however, is paid to money itself, which is usually taken
for granted and only appreciated as a useful tool in everyday life. After
all, what should be wrong with it? And yet, looking closely at various
phenomena, at processes that don't develop as they are supposed to, it is
almost always possible to find the root cause in a tiny flaw in the
structure of this otherwise handy tool. The conflict arises from the
contradiction between money as a medium of exchange and as a means for
saving value. It cannot fulfill both functions at the same time. Getting
storable money back into circulation, demands interest and compound
interest.
For the first time The Money Syndrome offers a close analysis, giving meticulous evidence of the varying and extensive consequences that derive from this tiny flaw. The author investigates the dysfunctional effects of money, using the example of Germany's economy since World War II. He shows how, in the beginning, interest helps to accumulate the new capital necessary for developing a collapsed economy. Going on to present how, as the economy grows and capital accumulates, interest charges claim an increasing share of the national product. In Germany, monetary assets have doubled roughly every seven years, which amounts to an exponential increase. Since no economy can grow exponentially in the long run, the collapse of the whole system can be anticipated. A variety of dysfunctional effects in different fields have accompanied the growing discrepancy between the financial economy and the real economy. At first glance, it is difficult to see a common link between such varied phenomena as environmental degradation and unemployment. A link can, however, be detected in the accelerating demands of capital that call for increasing profits by recklessly exploiting natural resources and the Third World, while at the same time cutting personnel costs in the production area. By looking closely at various phenomena, it can clearly be seen that the existing monetary order is a system doomed to strangle itself. The basic problem was discovered and fully described by a man named Silvio Gesell about a hundred years ago. Renowned scientists such as John Maynard Keynes and Irving Fisher not only acknowledged his findings, but endorsed his proposals for a solution. Since Keynes' suggestion for a global reference currency "Bancor" was turned down at Bretton Woods, no significant change has occurred in the world's monetary system, with the EURO for example representing no fundamental change either. The Money Syndrome invites the reader to take a new look at the works of Gesell and Keynes by offering solid and full ranging evidence for the dysfunctional effects of the world's monetary system. | |
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Coverage and Organization |
The author, who has had more than thirty years professional experience in financing, economic calculations and viability testing, carried out his investigations for about twelve years before the first edition of The Money Syndrome was published. Through careful study and research he wanted to provide material that would withstand close scrutiny and present it in a way that would be comprehensible for anyone. He lucidly explains the economic terms and functions that surround money and shows his factual findings in numerous diagrams and graphs, using the example of Germany's economy since World War II. He then shows the various effects of our monetary system on a vast range of fields including agriculture, social instability, the degradation of the environment, the over-indebtedness of the Third World and a trend toward triggering wars. For the English edition, the author plans to further enrich the material, by including diagrams of other major industrial nations in order to highlight their similar developments in the monetary field. | |
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Readership |
Since mainstream economics still maintains a taboo on
money as a topic, The Money Syndrome is designed to be a
popular non-fiction book mainly aimed at a discriminating general
audience. There does however seem to be a growing interest in the work of
Gesell and Keynes on the part of national bankers as the following two
working papers imply (both papers explicitly refer to S Gesell and J M
Keynes):
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Existing books |
The majority of literature about money deals with topics
concerning the infrastructure of money, i.e. banks, funds, and
organizations like the IMF or WTO. There is practically no literature that
deals with the circulation medium itself, its structure and the resulting
implications. There is a growing number of books, however, that deal with
alternative economies such as local exchange trading systems, barter rings
and the like. Since the issuance of private money would clash with the
legislation in most countries, these resort to alternative ways of
banking, i.e. accounting.
The Money Syndrome is therefore unique among books on economic topics. There are three titles that it could be compared with:
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Author |
Helmut Creutz
Born in 1923, in Aachen, Germany. From 1949 a Company Manager, since 1972 a freelance Architect and Author, and since 1982 an Economic Analyst. Engaged in anti-war-, environmentalist-, Third World-movements and a founding member of the Green party in Aachen and NRW. (a few more details about the author in German) Books:
Since 1980 he has held more than 600 public lectures, and published many articles in magazines and newspapers. In 1990 he accepted a teaching position at the University of Kassel and over the years he has been suggested for the Alternative Nobel Prize a number of times. | |
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General Background |
The Money Syndrome favours a constructively critical look at economic phenomena and their interrelations with a variety of fields. The main feature of The Money Syndrome is, that it gives solid and comprehensive evidence of the dysfunctional effects of the existing monetary system which leaves no doubts about causes and effects. Thus it allows the reader to evaluate economic phenomena more precisely and is an inspiration for new viable solutions in vitally necessary areas. | |
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| CONTACT: For more information please refer to Robert Mittelstaedt | ||
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