Multiple Currencies are needed

Multiple currencies are needed
We live with the idea that there should be only one currency in a country. We have a monoculture, abhorrent in Nature. For more resilience we need more currencies, both at local and national level.

There is no reason why a New Zealand dollar cannot co-exist with an Auckland or a West Coast currency, just as there is no reason why the Drachma can’t co-exist with the Euro. And there is no reason why a Kapiti Coast currency cannot co-exist with an Otaki currency. The same applies in every suburb, town, city, region in New Zealand. At an international level there is no reason why we couldn’t have an Australasian dollar for Australasian trade as well as a New Zealand currency for New Zealand trade. We have for too long existed with only one currency – the national currency.  Applying biomimicry to this system, each currency must have semi-permeable borders. Each system is a whole within a whole within a whole. All have their own integrity. As clever human beings we can cope with complexity, especially now our technology is available to make it simpler. Moving towards complexity will ensure resilience in the face of threat and it is a normal part of evolution.

Technology for multiple currencies
We advocate using debit cards with multiple currencies loaded on. For example Kiwibank currently issues a card with several chips, each representing a currency for overseas travellers. Their card is called LOADED.  It would therefore be possible to have national, iwi, local body and a community currency loaded onto the same card.

With such a complex system of currencies co-existing within a multilevel system, it is natural there will be frictions, negotiations, readjustments, and teething problems. But our best hope for survival in an uncertain future is the urgent implementation of this radical process.

In what order should these reforms take place?  See here

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