50 signatures reached
To: Philip Hammond (chancellor of the Exchequer) John McDonnell (Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer)
The Magic Money Tree
Recognize that a "Magic Money Tree" does exist, in fact there are TWO of them, both the government and commercial banks create the money that is spent into our economy. Please set up a parliamentary commission to investigate the impact that money creation by commercial banks has on society and examine the alternatives available.
Why is this important?
To understand the Money Tree, see http://positivemoney.org/2017/06/magic-money-tree/ (who produced the picture above). A government is not a household where "money in" has to equate to "money out" for solvency. It is true that real resources are limited: oil, agriculture, fisheries, minerals, etc. as well people's time, energy and skill, but there is no limit to the government's capacity to create money, as money is not actually a real thing at all, it is a social construct that enables us to share these resources. It is known - from Bank of England papers as well as buried in economics texts - that MONEY IS ACTUALLY CREATED FROM NOTHING. Money is an idea to which we give value and number, and then we use it to distribute goods. We have to trust where it comes from. The government produces 3%, and the banks, private corporations, produce the other 97%. OOPS did I say that correctly? YES I did. Look up Positive Money or New Economics Foundation, or just "Money Creation".
The ways in which money is created by commercial banks affects all other enterprises in which society is engaged.
I call on you to ask the UK government to set up a parliamentary investigation into the impact that money creation by commercial banks has on society. Set up a commission to examine whether we currently have the right tools to deliver economic stability and to consider alternatives, including Positive Money’s proposal for Sovereign Money Creation. Whatever political perspective people take, many feel that something is very wrong with our society and our economics. It is time the monetary system itself was examined.
