Few people, even in the City, realise that the economy’s money supply depends entirely on bank lending – all those numbers in the bank accounts of businesses and the general public were created by the commercial banks when they made loans (by ‘extending credit’). In effect, commercial banks have a monopoly on the supply of money to the rest of the economy.

Judging by their recent track record, can banks be trusted with this power? Have they used it to channel funds to productive businesses and grow the economy, or have they used it to inflate asset and property prices to destabilising levels? Should we be working towards a return to business as usual, or should we now turn banks into credit brokers rather than credit creators, and remove the ability of their lending decisions to swell and contract the money supply that the real, productive economy depends on?

In a two-day student conference in central London (held in association with the New Economics Foundation, we’ll be looking at a alternative view of the crisis – that the root of the financial crisis is the fundamental design of the banking system, in which profit-seeking companies (banks) have assumed the responsibility for creating huge quantities of money (and debt) and lending it into the economy.

Find out more at /studentconference

Speakers include:

• Steve Baker MP – an advocate of fundamental reforms to the banking system
• Simon Dixon of Benedix – a former City market maker giving an insider’s insight into why few people in the City can see the root of the problem
• Tony Greenham – Director of Business and Finance at the New Economics Foundation
• Tim Evans – chief executive of the Cobden Centre
• Jen Morgan – of the World Wildlife Fund and The Finance Lab
• James Tyler – owner of City trading firm Tyler Capital
• Josh Ryan-Collins – a specialist on monetary reform at the New Economics Foundation
• Toby Baxendale – an entrepreneur and owner of one of the largest seafood suppliers in the UK
• Ben Dyson – a specialist in money and banking who has worked on draft legislation for banking reform in both the US and UK

Find out more at /studentconference

Expect:

• A comprehensive discussion of the real reasons behind the financial crisis and the systemic problems within banking that necessitate the existence of huge levels of private and public debt, vast income disparities and environmental degradation.
• Invaluable knowledge of the inner workings of the banking system, the nature of money and how it is created is debt, and the workings of the City.
• An opportunity to take part in discussion groups, share ideas, and network with your peers who will inherit what becomes of the banking industry.
• An alternative stance from the libertarian right, the Austrian School, and the progressive left, covering groundbreaking material on the forefront of economic research.
• Opportunities to become involved in learning about and participating in the monetary reform movement after the conference.

Saturday evening involves a private afterparty near to the conference venue, and there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion between speakers and delegates throughout the two days. This is a conference that is hugely relevant to anyone studying economics, business or finance, and anyone planning to live or work in the economy over the next 60 years or more. It may change your understanding of the world and offer potential solutions to the wider social and economic problems that we face today.

Spaces are limited so register now at /studentconference