taken from The subsidiary
posted by: John Passali
We are in the thirties, in 1929 we saw the economic crisis, we are in the midst of the Great Depression. From the U.S., the economic downturn has spread worldwide. To try to stem it, a late and reckless acts was to be implemented by banks, a restriction of credit, which created a situation of scarcity monetary union.
Just like today, with the difference that today's date is not decided by the banking system, but is induced by excess liquidity. Today's banks, unlike then, they have flooded the world with liquidity, happy shouting from the rooftops "we have not made the same mistake of '29, we learned the lesson." But the result was the same, a restriction of liquidity.
was founded in 1934 the circuit Wir local currency, by a group of 16 businessmen sympathetic to the interest-free currency system, the was epitomized by the economist Silvio Gesell. The heart of his doctrine was that the money should be free of interest. Because of those ideas and those ideas were conceived and established the economic circuit Wir, still operational, with headquarters in Basel.
Wir in German is both the beginning of the word economy - Wirschaft - be the first person plural pronoun "we." The case Wir in those years of crisis was not an isolated act. Across Europe there were groped several initiatives to promote trade in the absence of money. All these initiatives created under the pressure of the emergency survived only for a short time in Europe. For either they lacked the cultural background and legal or failed or lost their importance with the end of the crisis.
The idea was to create circuit-based economy and an alternative currency, known as Wir. Companies that participated in this circuit were and are all small and medium-sized, and accepted as a registration fee credit. It is this type of business is one that is more difficult to find liquidity of financial firms, especially in crisis situations.
The credit is riconosciuto alle imprese, da parte dell’ufficio centrale a fronte di una ricchezza reale, rappresentata dalla capacità produttiva dei soci, e non era gravato da interesse. Questo credito, veniva fatto circolare all’interno del circuito, e utilizzato come mezzo di pagamento. Si tratta di una rete di scambio dove tutte la transazioni vengono sia addebitate che accreditate dall’ufficio centrale, e non sono consentiti prelievi di liquidità dai depositi.
L’organizzazione è strutturata come una banca, ed è oggi una banca cooperativa; ha la sua sede a Basilea e sette uffici regionali sparsi in tutta la Svizzera, con un organico complessivo than 110 employees. Payments are made in ways not unlike those of normal checks, credit cards and bank forms.
Wir In 1990 the bank had about 53,730 members, 16,788 accounts and an official half-yearly turnover of 800 million Wir, just the name of the unit of payment. The value of this unit is equalized to the Swiss franc, and a good Wir = 1 Franco Svizzero.A The bank currently handles more than 3 billion WIR (non-convertible, equivalent to CHF) and fourth groups of small and medium-sized enterprises in Switzerland ( about 60,000 companies with more than 200 employees).
The local currency, for how it is used, is emerging as a real complementary currency, since it can be used at a merchant belonging to the circuit, along with the official currency (Swiss francs). Transactions in an account in generating Wir Wir, separate from the current account in CHF (Swiss francs) that is not paid (cash without interest, as directed by Silvio Gesell). This of course is reflected in the ability to activate credit lines Wir at very low rates.
From 2000 it became a bank in all respects, has opened its doors to customers private, with which it establishes a relationship to anything different from other commercial banks. His vocation as a bank, created to help and protect the economic circuit of small businesses, is still very present and alive. To help businesses to exchange goods and services, a monthly newsletter is published three catalogs a year and offers an internet platform where you can get in touch with the supply demand.
Wir The Bank has developed and remained faithful to many of the principles that motivated the birth of the last century. Wir Today the Bank is charging very low interest on loans and pays no interest on deposits. The Wir remains a non-cumulative or speculative in nature, based on the movement of the credit. Exactly the opposite of the ECB and other central banks, which give them fiat debt.
A contemporary economist, Studer in 1998 has made a study on the effects of macroeconomic Wir in economics and the relationship with the money supply M1. Studer found a positive correlation between monetary and aggregation Wir M1 credits. Wir This suggests that a cyclical credit policy than the Swiss National Bank.
Further studies by James Stodder of 2005 have put in comparison Wir American circuit with the IRTA (International Reciprocal Trade Association), founded in the early seventies. This study confirmed the cyclical role of complementary currency systems analyzed. This means that complementary currencies are used more often and have a greater spread in times of economic crisis.
This is really an example of a local currency, the WIR, and a banking institution, serving the local economy. The local currency is not issued in due course, but as a credit on the production capacity. It means that at its foundation an act of faith. Not a blind faith, because viene comunque fatta una analisi dell’azienda. Ma la più accurata analisi non può togliere il fattore rischio, e quindi rimane inalterato l’elemento di fiducia connesso all’emissione di moneta.
Abbiamo già notato come la moneta locale Wir sia una moneta alternativa, che sostituisce di fatto completamente, laddove è utilizzabile, la moneta ufficiale, il franco svizzero. Un simile sistema monetario in Europa, dove vige il Trattato di Maastricht, non sarebbe legale. Allora quello che è utilizzabile è un sistema di moneta complementare, dove la moneta locale accompagna la moneta ufficiale, sotto la forma legale del buono sconto.
Such a monetary system has also a clear subsidiary function. All are willing to use it and receive the official currency, the euro, but gladly accept another form of money, if the alternative is not to conclude the contract of purchase, due to a stifling monetary crunch.
But the heart of the matter can not be a simple constraint. To be able to choose between a coin and the other, the alternative must first exist. And there is the alternative, the alternative was created only for a radical act of faith. At the end there is no more. And the real trust comes only from the true faith, that is a life experience consolidated.
0 comments:
Post a Comment