with Charles Eisenstein & Helena Norberg-Hodge
In this webinar, author Charles Eisenstein joins Local Futures’ Director Helena Norberg-Hodge for a conversation about the central role of debt in the global economy.
Virtually all the money in circulation today was created through debt – much of it for speculative bets within an increasingly unstable casino economy. Charles and Helena take a look at how the continuous deregulation of trade and finance leads to spiraling debt – not only for individuals but for nation states – in both the global North and South. The webinar explores the ways in which our social and ecological problems are a consequence of a type of growth based on this ever-increasing debt and speculation.
The webinar is also a chance to learn about some of the solutions on offer, including:
Re-regulating trade and finance
Re-introduction of tariffs
Debt cancellation
Positive money & negative interest
Public banking
Local finance and investment schemes
Community funds
Micro-credit
Local currencies
Some of these can provide real benefits at the global and local level, while others are ‘pseudo-solutions’ that deepen people’s dependence on the debt-driven global economy.
Recorded March 30th/ 31st, 2016.
Presenters
Charles Eisenstein (USA) is a speaker and writer focusing on themes of human culture and identity. He is the author of several books, most recently Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible. He has also created an extensive collection of short films and videos. His background includes a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale, a decade in Taiwan as a translator, and stints as a college instructor, a yoga teacher, and a construction worker. He currently writes and speaks full-time, and lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and four children. Read more here: http://charleseisenstein.net and Charles’ YouTube Channel.
Helena Norberg-Hodge (Australia) is the founder and director of Local Futures/ISEC. A pioneer of the ‘new economy’ movement, she has been promoting an economics of personal, social and ecological well-being for more than thirty years. She is the producer and co-director of the award-winning documentary The Economics of Happiness, and the author of Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh, described as “an inspirational classic” and Local is Our Future. She has given public lectures in seven languages, and has appeared in broadcast, print, and online media worldwide. She was honored with the Right Livelihood Award (or ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’) for her groundbreaking work in Ladakh, and recently received the Goi Peace Prize for contributing to “the revitalization of cultural and biological diversity, and the strengthening of local communities and economies worldwide.”