Library

Scientific paper • 2015

Credit creation and the ‘growth imperative’ a quasi-stationary economy with debt-based money

Abstract: This paper addresses the question of whether a capitalist economy with interest-bearing money can ever sustain a ‘stationary’ (or non-growing) state, or whether, as often claimed, capitalism has an inherent ‘growth imperative’ which arises from the creation of money as interest-bearing debt. We outline the development of a dedicated system dynamics model for describing Financial...

Interview • 2015

Aufbruchtage - Rückbesinnung, Neuanfang ... Horst Arndt-Henning im Gespräch

By: Schattenblick, Horst Arndt-Henning

Interview mit Horst Arndt-Henning im Rahmen der Degrowth Konferenz 2014 in Leipzig. Aus dem Text: Am Rande des Leipziger Kongresses hatte der Schattenblick die Gelegenheit, mit dem Wirtschaftswissenschaftler Dr. Horst Arndt-Henning, der in Oldenburg als Unternehmensberater tätig ist, über Wirtschaft und Wachstum, Theorie und Transformation, aber auch Geld, Zins und Profit und nicht zuletzt über...

Report • 2015

Zuordnung der Steuern und Abgaben auf die Faktoren Arbeit, Kapital, Umwelt

By: Damian Ludewig, Bettina Meyer, Alexander Mahler

Die ohnehin hohe Steuer- und Abgabenlast auf den Faktor Arbeit steigt weiter, Umweltverschmutzung wird dagegen günstiger. Steuern und Abgaben auf den Faktor Arbeit tragen zu 63,4 Prozent zu den Staatsfinanzen bei fast ein Prozentpunkt mehr als im Vorjahr. Umweltsteuern hingegen leisten nur einen geringen Beitrag zu den Staatsfinanzen. Ihr Anteil ist in den vergangenen Jahren weiter auf 4,9...

Presentation • 2015

Paul Ellis ESEE2015 Plenary: Sustaining Development - Practitoners´ Perspectives

By: Paul Ellis

Plenary speech at the 2015 European Society for Ecological Economics Conference at the University of Leeds in July 2015. Practitioners Panel Q&A session with Ronan Palmer, Kate Raworth, Andy Mace and Paul Ellis

Misc • 2015

Blockaden des Wandels überwinden - Warum der Staat systematisch das Falsche subventioniert und wie sich das ändern kann

By: Fabian Scheidler

Einleitung Angesichts von Klimachaos, globalen Finanzkrisen und Massenarmut brauchen wir, darüber sind sich immer mehr Menschen einig, eine tiefgreifende sozial-ökologische Transformation, die alle Gesellschaftsbereiche erfasst. Es gibt längst eine kaum überschaubare Fülle von Konzepten und Praktiken für diesen Wandel, von der Genossenschafts- bis zur Commonsbewegung, von der Solidarischen...

Misc • 2015

movum - Heft 8: Finanzpolitik

By: Eva Mahnke, Michael Müller, Reinhard Loske, Nick Reimer, Damian Ludewig, Kai Schlegelmilch, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Benjamin von Brackel, Kai Niebert, Susanne Götze, Jörg Staude, Jörg Staude, Susanne Schwarz, Friederike Maier, Joachim Wille, Sandra Kirchner, Barbara Hendricks, Mechthild Schrooten, Anselm Görres, Björn Klusmann

Heft 8 des Magazins movum zum Thema Finanzpolitik Kurzbeschreibung: Die Preise sollen die ökologische Wahrheit sagen. Aber auch die massive Ungleichverteilung der Vermögen und Einkommen ruft nach einer anderen Finanzpolitik. Helfen Ökosteuern, Niedrigzinsen oder Subventionsabbau? Das Heft als PDF

Scientific paper • 2014

Building a social and ecological economy through a social accounting model of banking

By: Raymond Aitken

Abstract: Building a social and ecological economy imbued with the aspirations of democratic governance and cultural renaissance that the degrowth movement aspires to, requires linguistic precision and rigorous observation of economic phenomenology, to expose and address pernicious monetary fallacies. Words like “growth”, “money” and “debt” need unambiguous requalification. Such elucidation...

Scientific paper • 2014

financial crisis explained by the theory of Freigeld

By: Peter Brass

Financial crisis explained by the theory of Freigeld

Scientific paper • 2014

Ecological monetary economics: A post-Keynesian critique

By: Louison Cahen-Fourot, Marc Lavoie

Ecological macroeconomics ; Ecological monetary economics ; post-Keynesian economics ; steady-state ; degrowth

Scientific paper • 2014

Sustainable Finances for Society: The consideration of a Certification Program

By: Blanca Fernandez

Abstract: Sustainable development is an ongoing process based on a set of principles that have to continue to spread throughout all economic activities. Looking at the current economic scenario, the transformation of the financial sector appears crucial. I first define a working definition of sustainable finances. Powerful drivers towards sustainable practices in strong profit-oriented markets...

Scientific paper • 2014

How does the monetary system work, does it require economic growth, and are there monetary policy options allowing degrowth?

By: Christoph Freydorf

Abstract: Degrowth strategies are not only depending on political decisions, but also on concepts of economic orders which permit the expectation to be stable and prosperous without the necessity of nominal or real (throughput of natural resources) growth rates. One important aspect is the monetary policy, which is widely suspected to play a crucial role for both, the necessity to growth as...

Scientific paper • 2014

Money, debt, and the end of the growth imperative

By: Thomas H. Greco

Abstract: The global, interest-based, debt-money system is the primary driver of unsustainable growth, economic inequity, and environmental destruction. Almost all of the money in existence in the world today is created by banks when they make loans. The accrual of interest on these loans over time, causes the amount of debt to always exceed the means for its payment, so new loans must...

Scientific paper • 2014

Rethinking the Role of the Economy and Financial Markets

By: Tony Greenham, Josh Ryan Collins

Abstract: The financial crisis is as much a crisis of economics as of the financial system. Inherent flaws in the modern monetary system overlay and magnify conceptual flaws in prevailing neo-liberal economic policy that rely on frameworks ill-suited to the current context of ecological and social problems. Our response therefore needs to address both the reform of the financial system and a...

Scientific paper • 2014

Crowdfunding: Democratising finance for the green economy

By: Nina Horstmann

Scientific paper • 2014

Prelude to a Critique of Ecological Economy

By: Helmut Knolle

Ecological Economics, History of economic theory, Recycling, Climate protection, Steady-state economy

Scientific paper • 2014

Ethical Banks – Professional Biography and taking critical distance in ethical Banking and Finance

By: Sarah Lenz

Abstract: The segment of empirical reality chosen for the presentation is dedicated to ethical or sustainable banking. Though rather small still, this segment has been expanding rapidly. Contrary to conventional banking, this segment has constantly been gaining legitimacy since the collapse of global finance. Building on the assumption that institutions do not only depend on the acceptance and...

Scientific paper • 2014

Wealth, Virtual Wealth, and Capitalism

By: Gabriel Lombard

Abstract: Modern economists have accustomed us to put different things under the words wealth. Some authors of the past tackled more thoroughly the question of the nature of wealth and the correlated question of the role of money. We present three prominent examples of different periods but of a common spirit: the Physiocrat François Quesnay, in 18th. century France, the art-critic John Ruskin...

Scientific paper • 2014

The present day monetary and financial systems: What´s wrong and what must be changed for a post-growth economy

By: Helge Peukert

Abstract: A basic question will be which elements and factors of the present-day financial and monetary sectors are drivers for economic growth and in how far they must and could be changed in favor of a degrowth economy and which elements of the present system might be preserved. I will present basic facts, structural relationships, institutional details and recent developments and formulate...

Scientific paper • 2014

Theoretical considerations on growth imperatives in a monetary economy

By: Oliver Richters, Ferdin, Wenzlaff, Christian Kimmich

Abstract: If an ongoing growth is considered impossible or undesirable, the growth dependence of man-made structures such as social security systems have to be carefully revised. In the post-growth debate, the monetary system based on credit money combined with positive interest rates is often criticized and accused of causing a growth imperative. The contribution refutes this oversimplified...

Scientific paper • 2014

Degrowth, the financial system and the pension system

By: Joachim H. Spangenberg

Abstract: It has been argued that degrowth would lead to a catastrophic economic collapse triggered by a collapse of stock exchange values. However, this analysis rests on several flawed assumptions: (i) an outdated view on stock market mechanisms and values (ii) the assumption that the stock market mechanisms would remain unchanged in a degrowth economy (iii) unchanged expectations of benefits...