World currency

All research or scholarship questions
onepence~2
Posts: 221
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 1:17 am

Re: World currency

Postby onepence~2 » Fri Apr 23, 2010 6:40 pm

brettz9 wrote:Yes, good point Bruce, and as I understand it a big advantage of a world currency would be curbing such speculation, at least on something of no real intrinsic value like currency...

Brett


i know
i know

put a lot of people out of work

speculatin of course

*wink wink*

bijou
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2020 6:08 pm

Re: World currency

Postby bijou » Fri Apr 17, 2020 2:01 am

Baha'i's can do well to understand the PURPOSE of a world currency. State currency is not for barter, never has been. As a "medium of exchange" State money can (and does) serve such purposes, but this is entirely secondary. State currency has been the dominant form of money for thousands of years, it has no intrinsic value, it is valued only because of imposed tax liabilities, fees, fines, tithes and levies. it is a way of accounting for credit + debt. This is the age old (at least 6000 years of human history) story of money. It has never been about barter or stored value, it is about reciprocity, a formal trusted accounting of credit + debt (we tend to trust authorities more as history proceeds, in the ancient past is was not so much trust but raw feudal power). The human sense of obligation, of giving someone a gift, and having a memory of this as a debt they owe you (or that you spontaneously forgive, since it is a gift) is ancient, a human primitive, and predates any system of money tokens. But money is the formal tokenized way we record and account for credit & debt since our memories cannot handle records of all our social obligations, money does it for us. it is not primarily for commerce, it is for spiritual purposes, accounting for our obligations.

A world currency would serve the purpose originally conceived of by John Maynard Keynes, which is to balance trade accounts so the resource poor nations do not lose their import capacity. It is about debt forgiveness, not barter, not storing of value. It is about justice and humanity, ultimately.

If you cannot afford his books, I highly recommend reading Randall Wray's blog series:
1. http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014 ... olicy.html
2.1 http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2015 ... blics.html
2.2. http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2015 ... t-two.html
3. http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016 ... art-3.html
4. http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2016 ... rency.html

scott20
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2020 11:53 am

Re: World currency

Postby scott20 » Wed Jul 15, 2020 7:05 am

Greetings,

I wonder what is the Baha'i approach on interest loans and foreign currencies. Could someone suggest me any sources to read on this matter?

brettz9
Posts: 1363
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 2003 12:12 pm
Contact:

Re: World currency

Postby brettz9 » Fri Jul 17, 2020 11:37 pm

There is one quote on the topic of interest--which, uh, may be of interest: https://bahai9.com/wiki/Interest . Basically while "usury" is forbidden, Bahá'u'lláh sets no absolute limit on it.

As far as foreign currencies, I don't know in what context you mean, but two references of some possible bearing:

1. https://bahai9.com/wiki/Integration_of_Europe has some quotes with praise for the general trend toward regional economic unions (though also the next document regarding some of the areas in which international and regional institutions (and their national sponsors) have to work to overcome the causes of distrust of such institutions).
2. Turning Point For All Nations: http://bahai-library.com/uhj_turning_point_nations mentions in a positive light about a world currency that "Among other benefits, economists believe that a single currency will curb unproductive speculation and unpredictable market swings, promote a leveling of incomes and prices worldwide, and thereby result in significant savings."

Also of possible interest: https://bahai9.com/wiki/World_currency

Best wishes,
Brett


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