Positive Money
{{short description|Not-for-profit advocacy group}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Primary sources|date=October 2021}}
{{Notability|Org|date=October 2021}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox organization
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| formation = {{start date and age|2010}}
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| type = Non-governmental organisation
| status = Company limited by guarantee
| headquarters = London, United Kingdom
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| leader_title = Executive Director
| leader_name = Fran BoaitFran Boait, [https://www.theguardian.com/business/economics-blog/2016/oct/12/monetary-policy-has-an-enormous-impact-on-politics-its-time-for-a-radical-rethink "Monetary policy has an enormous impact on politics. It's time for a radical rethink"], The Guardian, 12 October 2016 (page visited on 23 February 2018).
| leader_title2 =
| leader_name2 =
| leader_name3 = Sian Williams
| leader_title3 = Chair of the Board
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| key_people = Ben Dyson (founder)
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| affiliations = Finance Watch
| budget = 480,000 GBP
| budget_year = 2019
| name = Positive Money UK
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| num_staff = 10 (2020)
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| website = [http://www.positivemoney.org/ www.positivemoney.org]
}}
Positive Money UK is a not-for-profit advocacy group based in London and Brussels.{{Cite web|url=http://positivemoney.org/|title=Making money and banking work for society|website=positivemoney.org|access-date=2018-03-01}}Jason Douglas, [https://www.wsj.com/article_email/u-k-activist-group-emerges-as-voice-for-monetary-reform-1439982024-lMyQjAxMTA1MDE2OTUxMDkzWj "UK activist group emerges as voice for monetary reform"], The Wall Street Journal, 19 August 2015 (page visited on 23 February 2018).{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/03/nation-states-arent-households-debating-their-economies-if-they-are-stupid|title=Nation-states aren't households: debating their economies as if they are is stupid|last1=Glaser|first1=Eliane|magazine=New Statesman}} Positive Money's mission is to promote various reforms of central banks and alternative monetary policy.{{Cite web|url=https://positivemoney.org/about/our-vision/|title=Our vision - Positive Money|website=positivemoney.org|access-date=2018-09-28}} Its current executive director is geophysicist Fran Boait.{{cite web|url=https://diievents.dii.eu/finance-summit/speaker/fran-boait/|title=Finance Summit 2022|date=5 November 2020}}
History
Positive Money was founded in London by Ben Dyson in 2010{{in lang|fr}} "Monnaie pleine : une opportunité en Suisse pour changer la monnaie" [The "Full money" federal popular initiative: an opportunity to change currency in Switzerland], La revue durable, number 60, winter-spring 2017-2018, pages 26-29. as a response to the global financial crisis of 2007-2008. In its early years, Positive Money focused its efforts in advocating for a fundamental reform of the United Kingdom's monetary system.
In 2013, Fran Boait became executive director of Positive money. Under Boait's leadership, the organisation somehow broadened its scope and diversified its range of proposals, by including more pragmatic steps such as digital currency, and various forms of monetary financing proposals such as "People's QE" or "helicopter money", and "green quantitative easing". Positive Money also adopted new tactics such as rallies in front of the Bank of England{{Cite news|date=2018-09-14|title=Impact of the financial crash on UK households: Most homes lost £23,000|language=en-US|work=Compelo - latest news, features and insight on influencers and innovators within business|url=https://www.compelo.com/average-household-after-financial-crash/|url-status=dead|access-date=2018-09-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928161307/https://www.compelo.com/average-household-after-financial-crash/|archive-date=28 September 2018}} and petitioning. In 2013, Positive Money initiated the International Movement for Monetary Reform, a worldwide network of likeminded organisations.{{cite web|url=https://internationalmoneyreform.org/members/europe/uk-positive-money/|title=UK - Positive Money}}
In 2015, Positive money started its international expansion by launching a Eurozone-wide campaign on "Quantitative Easing for the People".{{Cite news|title=E.C.B. Expected to Expand Eurozone Stimulus, as Questions of Effects Remain|work=The New York Times |date=2 December 2015 |language=en|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/business/international/ecb-expected-to-expand-stimulus-as-questions-of-effects-remain.html|access-date=2018-09-28|last1=Ewing |first1=Jack }}{{Cite news|title=La planche à billets pour tous|language=fr|work=Alternatives Economiques|url=https://www.alternatives-economiques.fr/planche-a-billets/00082408|access-date=2018-09-28}} Positive money registered as a lobby group in the EU institutions in Brussels{{Cite web|title=Positive Money Europe (PMEU) {{!}} LobbyFacts Database|url=https://lobbyfacts.eu/representative/7ea6e0b07590486a8b8069a801d51c3b/positive-money-europe|access-date=2021-04-02|website=lobbyfacts.eu|language=en}} and in 2018 it formally created Positive Money Europe{{Cite web|last=Positive Money Europe|date=2018-06-23|title=Launch event: Time to Rethink the European Central Bank?|url=https://www.positivemoney.eu/2018/06/launch-conference-highlights-videos/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-08-02|website=Positive Money Europe|language=en-GB}} to operate the group's campaigns towards the European Central Bank and the European Parliament. In December 2019, Positive Money Europe was able to meet with the ECB President Christine Lagarde{{Cite web|last=Positive Money Europe|date=2019-12-04|title=Christine Lagarde meets with Positive Money Europe|url=https://www.positivemoney.eu/2019/12/meeting-ecb-president-christine-lagarde/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-25|website=Positive Money Europe|language=en-GB}} and its work has been praised by former ECB's chief economist Peter Praet.“By stimulating debates on money and banking within civil society, Positive Money Europe has pioneered open-minded thinking on monetary policy." testimonial by Peter Praet in [http://www.positivemoney.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/PME-Annual-Report-2019_w.pdf Positive Money Europe's annual report for 2019].
In 2016 Positive money founder Ben Dyson joined the Bank of England as a researcher, and he continued to work on Central Bank Digital Currency.{{Cite journal|last1=Meaning|first1=Jack|last2=Dyson|first2=Ben|last3=Barker|first3=James|last4=Clayton|first4=Emily|date=2018|title=Broadening Narrow Money: Monetary Policy with a Central Bank Digital Currency|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3180720|journal=SSRN Electronic Journal|doi=10.2139/ssrn.3180720|s2cid=158676984|issn=1556-5068}}{{Cite web|last=BankUnderground|date=2018-05-30|title=Would a Central Bank Digital Currency disrupt monetary policy?|url=https://bankunderground.co.uk/2018/05/30/would-a-central-bank-digital-currency-disrupt-monetary-policy/|access-date=2021-04-02|website=Bank Underground|language=en-US}}
Early 2021, Positive money won a major victory with the announcement that the Bank of England would be given the remit to green its corporate quantitative easing programme.{{Cite web|last=Reporter|first=Financial|title=Bank of England instructed to align monetary policy with net zero target|url=https://www.financialreporter.co.uk/finance-news/bank-of-england-instructed-to-align-monetary-policy-with-net-zero-target.html|access-date=2021-04-02|website=Financial Reporter|language=en}}
Proposals
= Sovereign money =
Positive Money's historical backbone proposal is to introduce a "sovereign money system".{{Cite web|title=Sovereign Money: An Introduction - Positive Money|url=http://positivemoney.org/our-proposals/sovereign-money-introduction/|access-date=2017-11-12|website=positivemoney.org}}{{in lang|de}} Daniel Eckert, [https://www.welt.de/finanzen/article123780452/Der-Krieg-um-das-sichere-Geld-der-Zukunft.html "Der Krieg um das sichere Geld der Zukunft"], Die Welt, 12 January 2014 (page visited on 23 February 2018). Under such a reform, private banks would be deprived from their ability to create money by extending credit into the economy. In turn, the Bank of England would regain the monopoly over money creation, by financing the government's budget (monetary financing) or distributing a citizens' dividend ("helicopter money").{{Cite web|date=30 April 2019|title=Interview with Stanislas Jourdan|url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-future-of-money-as-an-institution/|access-date=2022-01-18|website=Green European Journal|language=en-US}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/03/nation-states-arent-households-debating-their-economies-if-they-are-stupid|title=Nation-states aren't households: debating their economies as if they are is stupid|last1=Glaser|first1=Eliane|magazine=New Statesman}} The group however refutes any affiliation with Modern Monetary Theory.{{Cite web|url=https://positivemoney.org/about/our-vision/|title=Our vision - Positive Money|website=positivemoney.org|access-date=2018-09-28}}
{{Infobox organization
| image = File:Logo_of_Positive_Money_Europe.png
| alt =
| caption =
| map =
| mcaption =
| motto =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| formation = {{start date and age|2018}}
| extinction =
| type = Non-governmental organisation
| status = ASBL
| headquarters = Brussels, Belgium
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| language =
| leader_title = Executive Director
| leader_name = Vicky Van Eyck
| leader_title2 = Chair of the Board
| leader_name2 = Fran Boait
| leader_name3 =
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| board_of_directors =
| main_organ =
| parent_organization =
| budget = 140,000 EUR
| budget_year = 2019
| name = Positive Money Europe
| former name =
| image_border =
| size =
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| malt =
| map2 =
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| membership =
| general =
| num_staff = 7 (2020)
| num_volunteers =
| website = [http://www.positivemoney.eu www.positivemoney.eu]
}}
Although Positive Money's proposal is similar to full-reserve banking or narrow banking, it differs in the sense that it would merge bank deposits and central bank money. As explained by former Positive Money researcher Frank van Lerven, "Under a Sovereign Money system, there is no longer a split circulation of money, just one integrated quantity of money circulating among banks and non-banks alike."{{Cite web|url=https://positivemoney.org/2017/04/sovereign-money-is-not-full-reserve-banking/|title=Setting the record straight: Sovereign Money is not Full-Reserve Banking - Positive Money|website=positivemoney.org|date=27 April 2017|access-date=2018-09-28}} According to former ECB Vice-president Vitor Constancio, Positive Money's proposal "would not create enough funding for investment and growth."{{Cite web|last=Constancio|first=Vitor|title=Challenges for the European banking industry|url=https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2016/html/sp160707_1.en.html|access-date=2018-09-28|website=European Central Bank|date=7 July 2016|language=en}}
= Other proposals =
Over the years, Positive Money has broadened its agenda towards somewhat more short-term proposals such as:
- Fiscal-monetary cooperation: the organisation proposes various ways to channel money created by central banks towards public spending and investment.
- Reforming the governance and accountability frameworks of the Bank of England{{Cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/22/boe-reform-needed-to-boost-firepower-for-downturns-think-tank-says|title=BoE reform needed to boost firepower for downturns, think tank says|date=2019-10-22|website=euronews|language=en|access-date=2019-11-11}}{{Cite web|url=https://positivemoney.org/2018/06/diversity-bank-of-england-matters/|title=Why diversity at the Bank of England matters - Positive Money|website=positivemoney.org|date=14 June 2018|access-date=2018-09-28}} and of the European Central Bank.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-09/ecb-needs-more-scrutiny-from-european-parliament-report-says|title=ECB Needs More Scrutiny From European Parliament, Report Says|last=|first=|date=9 April 2019|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-11-11}}
- Greening monetary policy: Aligning monetary policy with climate change objectives{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/e19a1f90-5792-11e8-b8b2-d6ceb45fa9d0|title=Bank of England urged to focus on green objectives|website=Financial Times|date=14 May 2018|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-09-28|last1=Strauss|first1=Delphine}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32592671|title=Reality Check: Could the Greens change how money works?|last1=Chrispin|first1=Sebastian|publisher=BBC|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130072041/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2015-32592671|archivedate=30 November 2016|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}Jason Hickel, [https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/nov/05/how-a-new-money-system-could-help-stop-climate-change "To deal with climate change we need a new financial system"], The Guardian, 5 November 2016 (page visited on 23 February 2018).{{Cite web|date=2020-02-12|title=Climat : le Parlement européen encourage la BCE à faire sa révolution|url=https://www.lesechos.fr/finance-marches/banque-assurances/climat-le-parlement-europeen-encourage-la-bce-a-faire-sa-revolution-1171123|access-date=2020-11-25|website=Les Echos|language=fr}} though reforms of central bank's collateral framework or forms of credit guidance such as green TLTROs.{{Cite news|date=2020-09-22|title=ECB Encouraged to Create New Green Bank-Lending Program|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-22/ecb-encouraged-to-create-new-green-bank-lending-program|access-date=2020-11-25}}Fabrice Anselmi, [https://www.agefi.fr/asset-management/actualites/quotidien/20211026/fin-tltro-pourrait-prefigurer-operations-330862 La fin des TLTRO pourrait préfigurer des opérations de «refinancements verts»], L'Agefi.fr
- Digital currency: the organisation propose implementing a central bank digital currency{{Cite web|url=https://positivemoney.org/publications/digital-cash/|title=Digital Cash: Why central banks should issue digital currency|website=positivemoney.org|access-date=2018-09-28}} in the UK and supports the introduction of a digital euro by the ECB.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.positivemoney.org}}
- [http://internationalmoneyreform.org/ International Movement for Monetary Reform]
- [http://www.vollgeld-initiative.ch/ Sovereign Money Initiative (Switzerland)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160919030056/http://www.neweconomics.org/publications/entry/where-does-money-come-from "Where Does Money Come From"]
{{Portal bar|Money|Banks|Business and economics|United Kingdom}}
Category:2010 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Non-profit organisations based in England
Category:Political and economic think tanks based in the United Kingdom