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4 September 2012

Guardian: We Can't Grow Ourselves out of Debt

An article by Charles Eisenstein in the Guardian 3rd September mentions the creation of money as interest bearing debt and why our monetary system requires continuous growth:   “Our present money system can only function in a growing economy.
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An article by Charles Eisenstein in the Guardian 3rd September mentions the creation of money as interest bearing debt and why our monetary system requires continuous growth:

 

Our present money system can only function in a growing economy. Money is created as interest-bearing debt: it only comes into being when someone promises to pay back even more of it.

Therefore, there is always more debt than there is money.

In a growth economy that is not a problem, because new money (and new debt) is constantly lent into existence so that existing debt can be repaid. But when growth slows, good lending opportunities become scarce. Indebtedness rises faster than income, debt service becomes more difficult, bankruptcies and layoffs rise.

We are at the end of an era. No one seriously believes that we will grow ourselves out of debt again. There is an alternative.”

Read We can’t grow ourselves out of debt, no matter what the Federal Reserve does

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