British Parliament to debate money creation

[JulieW]

Well this is a turn-up:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjR6xRN0PjY[/youtube]

and they suggest you tell your MP you'd like him/her to attend and participate.

Now THAT could be uncomfortable!

Can we have one please sir?

We've made another significant breakthrough: This morning we were told that Parliament will hold a three hour debate on the issue of 'Money Creation and Society' on Thursday 20th November.

This will be the first time in 170 years that Parliament has debated money creation.

The Money Creation and Society debate is being hosted by Steve Baker (Conservative), Caroline Lucas (Green), Michael Meacher (Labour), Douglas Carswell (UKIP), and David Davis (Conservative).

The backbench debate in the Main Chamber of Parliament creates an opportunity for MPs from all parties to learn about the issue, ask questions and deepen their understanding. As the results of our recent poll show, most MPs lack a sufficient understanding of money creation, leaving them ill-equipped to legislate on important policy.

We have produced a full briefing for the money creation debate that you can see here.

There are lots of important questions that Parliament should address during the three hours in the Main Chamber, these include:

Who should create money? Should high-street banks have the effective right to create money every time they make a loan, given the recent consequences for the economy? How should newly created money be used? Do we want banks to have the power to create money when this leads to unaffordable housing and financial instability? Should we have allowed the Bank of England to create 375bn with little scrutiny from parliament, and use this money to inflate financial markets? Were there better uses of this money?

We only have less than two weeks to ensure that Members of Parliament attend the debate and also understand the basic facts about money!

We need your help:

1) Invite your MP to the historic debate on money creation

You can help make politicians aware of the issue of money creation by banks and all its negative impacts on society. You can do this in just 2 minutes using the link below:

Email your MP. You can use our email template to ask them for their commitment to be there.

Phone your MP. This is the quickest way to let them know the debate has been announced and find out if they are planning to go.

You can simply phone the House of Commons switchboard on 020 7219 3000 and ask for your MP by name. You will be able to leave them a message or speak to a member of their staff.

Remember to be polite, your message is much more likely to make it to your MP if you stick to the point and put your case across clearly.

http://www.positivemoney.org/2014/11/uk-parliament-debate-money-creation-first-time-170-years/

Perhaps we could get Jim Rickards to do the opening remarks here after the G20 scurry off to their next round of excess.

Jim Rickards speaks to The Business
Video Interview:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-13/jim-rickards-speaks-to-the-business/5890060

Rickards has some ideas!

 

[errol43]

SHOULD BE INTERESTING COME NOV 20. When are we going to have this type of debate in our Parliament?

Barnaby Joyce lost his job as Finance Minister once because he suggested that the USA might have a hard job paying back its $17,000,000,000,000 debt.

How many of our MP's, I wonder, know anything about Fractional Reserve Banking,, DERIVATIVES OR off the books accounting?

Lets get rid of the Reserve Bank and let The Treasury print the money and determine interest rates.

Regards Errol 43

 

[Kael]

Not being funny/pessimistic/non-believing/bornintoabubble, BUT...........
Using the words "to teach and about money" in the same sentence regarding the leaders of a country(ok so they are ONLY back bench but they have more say than than the normal voter)actually makes a little bit of sick come into my mouth.
Words actually fail me in regards to how wrong that statement is.

For the record, Not a pop at JulieW.
Just in general.....

 

[JulieW]

No problem. The article and premise startled me I must say.

 

[sammysilver]

SHOULD BE INTERESTING COME NOV 20. When are we going to have this type of debate in our Parliament?

Barnaby Joyce lost his job as Finance Minister once because he suggested that the USA might have a hard job paying back its $17,000,000,000,000 debt.

How many of our MP's, I wonder, know anything about Fractional Reserve Banking,, DERIVATIVES OR off the books accounting?

Lets get rid of the Reserve Bank and let The Treasury print the money and determine interest rates.

Regards Errol 43

Joyce also warned of sovereign risk a decade ago and people shook their heads in disbelief. Thought he was a loony.

 

[Roswell Crash Survivor]

From Westminster:
(a)head three miles downriver to the City of London, London's Traditional financial district
Home to Bank of England, London Stock Exchange, Lloyds Banking, BT Financial, Standard Chartered and more high-end law firms than you can shake a judge's gavel at

(b)head five miles downriver to Canary Wharf, London's Modern financial district
Huge towers owned by HSBC, Citi Group, Barlays, J.P Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Bank of America, Toronto-Dominion (TD), Morgan Stanley and more insurance companies headquarters than you can shake an actuarial model at

I do not think the proximity for symbols of state power and financial control is a coincidence. Its a planned statement.

 

[JulieW]

Is that to do with the borders of the City of London and its status in the UK?

The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council, such as being the police authority. It is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, an office separate from (and much older than) the Mayor of London. The current Lord Mayor is Alan Yarrow.

I seem to recall reading that one of the monarchs borrowed money from Rothschild/banks for some war or other, and put up the crown jewels as collateral, which are now owned by the City which loans them out for ceremonial occasions. (I don't know if that is true or not folks)

Perhaps the reason the banks and eitists hover so near the centre is to avoid the influence of other police forces!!

 

[Lovey80]

SHOULD BE INTERESTING COME NOV 20. When are we going to have this type of debate in our Parliament?

Barnaby Joyce lost his job as Finance Minister once because he suggested that the USA might have a hard job paying back its $17,000,000,000,000 debt.

How many of our MP's, I wonder, know anything about Fractional Reserve Banking,, DERIVATIVES OR off the books accounting?

Lets get rid of the Reserve Bank and let The Treasury print the money and determine interest rates.

Regards Errol 43

Joyce also warned of sovereign risk a decade ago and people shook their heads in disbelief. Thought he was a loony.

Do you have a link to that? Would love to see his words in retrospect if that is the case.

Is it possible to watch this UK debate online?

 

[MacAg]

UPDATE and link to video of the debate in UK Parliament from PositiveMoney.org

On the 20th November 2014 UK Parliament held a back bench debate on "Money Creation and Society". This marked the first time in 170 years, since the Bank Charter Act in 1844, that the topic has been fully debated in Parliament. Thank you to all of your who contacted your MP and helped to make the debate a success.

Over 35 MPs attended and 21 MPs spoke throughout the debate. This included: Steve Baker MP, Michael Meacher MP, Peter Lilley MP, Austin Mitchell MP, Zac Goldsmith MP, Catherine McKinnell MP (shadow front bench) and Andrea Leadsom MP (from the government).

The debate is an important step. Members of Parliament at the debate acknowledged that banks create new money when they make a loan and there was a consensus amongst most MPs present that this is a problem.

The aim of this debate was not to take a vote or change laws, however, it provided an unprecedented opportunity to discuss this topic, which is outside of the government's agenda. We were overwhelmed by the quality of the discussion and the cross-party nature of the debate.

"Democracy tends to move forward in small, often almost indiscernible steps. All of you at Positive Money, and of course the speakers, should be very proud of today's debate in the House of Commons. The whole subject is of such fundamental importance that it is curious how little money creation and use is understood. Bringing it into the public realm is vital for our future success and prosperity as a nation. I believe that everyone associated with Positive Money is doing this country a very great service, for which I congratulate you. I am proud to be associated with you all. May we have many more small steps frequently in the future.

You know how to eat an elephant? A bite at a time."
Tim Delap, Positive Money supporter

We've made it this far thanks to the 450 individuals who donate monthly. If you're able to join them by making a small monthly or one-off donation, we'll be able to push the campaign for a democratic money system even further in 2015.

Read more about the debate and watch the recording from the Parliament here.
http://www.positivemoney.org/2014/11/mps-debated-money-creation/

The government's view on this debate was provided by Andrea Leadsom MP, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury. She raised seven 'important questions'. We have written a detailed response and addressed them all you can read it here. http://www.positivemoney.org/2014/1...e-andrea-leadsom-economic-secretary-treasury/

Perhaps most importantly, cross-party support came for a proposal to set up a monetary commission in order to explore this issue in detail.

Thousands of you, Positive Money supporters, helped to make this historic debate a success. Thank you for taking the time to contact your MP!

I've been on their email list since they founded, and even if they never reach their goal I think it quite an achievement that they managed to get this topic debated in UK Parliament. The website is full of information and video clips about money creation that I've found useful in educating friends and family who still think that governments are the only ones who create money.

For our Kiwi stackers this organisation is up and running in NZ too. http://www.positivemoney.org.nz/