Creating Wealth
Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies
By: Gwendolyn Hallsmith, Bernard Lietaer
Published: May 1, 2011
Format: Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN-10: 0865716676
ISBN-13: 978-0865716674
Publisher: New Society Publishers
"Wealth is more than the accumulation of money and resources, and it can be generated in ways other than through conventional financial means", write sustainable development expert Gwendolyn Hallsmith, and leading authority on complementary currencies Bernard Lietaer, in their visionary and very revolutionary book Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies. The authors describe how troubled communities face a mismatch between their many needs and their already existing but underutilized resources, and propose alternate systems of exchange for those communities.
Gwendolyn Hallsmith (photo left) and Bernard Lietaer understand that the conventional monetary and financial system is not working well for all communities. The authors recognize that many individual and community needs are unmet, despite an abundance of resources within that same community. The authors propose a transformation in both the thinking about wealth, and the implementation of alternative community based systems of exchange to meet local needs. To truly embrace the wealth of our communities and of society as a whole, the authors suggest a reconsideration of an older concept of wealth as one of well-being. They also provide ideas for alternative financial systems to meet that new definition of personal, community, and societal well-being as real wealth.
Bernard Lietaer (photo left) and Gwendolyn Hallsmith offer a fresh way of considering wealth beyond the current conventional ideas. With an examination of real community and societal wealth, as seen through a new vision of wealth, creative exchange systems can be developed to improve the quality of life for people. The authors make clear that wealth creation cannot be separated from human development.
For the authors, human capital represents the ongoing development of people's educational levels and health standards. With an enriched emphasis on societal needs, a culture of deeper personal relationships can develop, increasing what the authors call social capital. Through improved conflict resolution within communities, where people feel a sense of equity and empowerment, a just and peaceful society will result. The new empowerment will also improve the institutional capital of the community, building a new legal framework.
For me, the power of the book is how Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer combine their visionary theory of community and societal wealth with practical systems of exchange for implementing the proposed concepts. Like a healthy forest, the many financial systems proposed by the authors provide balance and stability, as well as alternative forms of transaction completion.
The current financial system, while highly effective in many areas, exists as a one size fits all concept that doesn't work for everyone. The authors provide case study evidence of their concepts, including alternate local currencies, barter, and time banks, in action and functioning well by meeting the real needs of communities. The very way of thinking of wealth as one of well-being for people, communities, society, and the environment changes the financial equation to one that empowers people to solve their own problems and develop their own lives.
I highly recommend the groundbreaking and provocative Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies by Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer, to anyone seeking an alternative, yet community based system for meeting real needs, and creating overall well-being. This book will change the way a person thinks about the existing financial system, and of conventional ideas of money and wealth, and what those terms really mean for people.
Read the eye opening and fresh thinking filled book Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies by Gwendolyn Hallsmith and Bernard Lietaer, and discover the many personal and societal empowering alternative systems for available community resources to be harnessed to meet real needs. This transformational book will lead to real wealth, personal well-being, and community development, even if only a few of the suggested are implemented in a community.
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