2003

Lietaer Bernard

Money, Community & Social Change

http://uazu.net/money/lietaer.html

Money, Community & Social Change - An Interview with Bernard Lietaer By Ravi Dykema.

What is money? And how well does it work to solve society's ills? Bernard Lietaer, author of the upcoming book "Access to Human Wealth: Money beyond Greed and Scarcity" (Access Books, 2003), has made a life's work of exploring these questions. Lietaer has been involved in the world of money systems for more than 25 years, and his experience in monetary matters ranges from multinational corporations to developing countries. He co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the single European currency system (the Euro), and served as president of the Electronic Payment System in his native Belgium. He also co-founded one of the largest and most successful currency funds. Lietaer is the author of nine books on money and finances, including "The Future of Money" (Random House, 2001), The Mystery of Money (Riemann Verlag, 2000) and a book for kids, called 'The World of Money' (Arena Verlag, 2001). Formerly professor of international finance at the University of Louvain, Lietaer is currently a fellow at the Center for Sustainable Resources at the University of California, Berkeley. Beginning this fall, he will be a professor at Naropa University. Here, Lietaer shares his views on the shortcomings of our conventional currency system, the benefits of creating a complementary currency, and ways to effect lasting social change.