News from the Danish campaign for monetary reform

Exciting news from our sister organisation Gode Penge in Denmark:

Newly formed party The Alternative (Alternativet) brings monetary reform proposal into Danish parliament

In Denmark the public’s trust in politicians and democracy is at an all time low. Just before the election on June 18th a poll showed that only 28 % of the population trust the politicians compared to 60 % in 2011. Broken promises, mudslinging and too much attention to single cases have been pointed out as major causes for the lacking trust.

The lack of trust has led many people to turn their backs on the traditional parties (such as the liberals, the social democrats and the conservatives) making room for new political movements and parties. One of these is the political party The Alternative (Alternativet) which entered the Danish parliament after the election on June 18th with 168,788 votes, equivalent to 4.8 % of the votes. The party was founded in 2013 by former minister of culture, Uffe Elbæk, and describes itself as a centre-left party focusing on sustainable transition – environmentally, economically, socially and culturally. However, the most interesting thing about The Alternative is the fact that in their political programme there is a proposal of full reserve banking which members of the party now are ready to promote in the parliament.

This is a big step for our Danish campaign for monetary reforms, Gode Penge, which has been lobbying intensively for monetary reforms in Denmark during the past year. A year that has been busy but also very rewarding.

Inspired by papers from the Bank of England the Danish central bank published the paper ‘Penge, kredit og bankvæsen’ (money, credit and banking) in November 2014. In the paper, modern money creation by private banks was explained, putting the money multiplier theory to rest.

With reference to this publication the director of the central bank, Hugo Frey Jensen, stated:

“Banks create deposits, and thereby money when they loan out money”

He thereby clarified the fact that money is indeed created by high street banks and at the same time he brought the debate into the mainstream.

Parallel to the appearance of The Alternative, MPs from other parties have also shown interest in the problems caused by money creation by the private banks. On November 19th Lisbeth Bech Poulsen, MP from the socialist party, asked in the parliament the minister of Economy and Business questions about the democratic problems caused by privatised money creation. More MPs have shown interest in the subject but they need the last persuasion before actively joining the debate.

Gode Penge will continue to bring forward the debate about money creation and the banking system in general – both inside and outside the walls of the Danish parliament. During the last year we have held regular speeches and hosted debates at Copenhagen Business School with 100-200 attendances every time. We have also made regular appearances in the mainstream media – newspapers as well as radio shows, and made contact and relations with politicians, journalist and professionals. After a short summer leave we will continue these activities undeterred. The next four years will be decisive for our success and the next big steps is to bring the debate to the agenda in Danish parliament and strengthen the international coordination. If we can think it we can do it, and when we do it, it will happen. Let’s make it happen!