Many speculate that it could come this year and that with the current global COVID lockdown, could this be the trigger to bring this about?
\n \n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Are we also going to be a cashless society only, using digital currency that will all be tracked from all integrated banks to every person throughout NZ\/Globally?<\/p>\n
Phil opens up saying that had \u2018we\u2019 had the courage we would have had a reset back in 2008 when New York\u2019s Wall St and City of London \u2018Ponzi schemes\u2019 started
\n to fall apart - but the Federal Reserve cleverly manifested trillions of dollars to bail out the bankers instead of the ordinary people who needed
\n it. Like 14 trillion dollars of liquidity kept them afloat. Which Phil states was the absolute wrong thing to do - we needed to have let them fail
\n - clean up their messes and then given them strict new rules in which to operate under and to state that \u2018you cannot continue to hang out pieces of
\n paper and expect other people to buy them. That was the first mistake.<\/p>\n
The 2nd mistake was thinking that the problem was solved. Because with all this financial liquidity injected into the market - a lot of Governments and
\n central Banks thought ok - that is a good job done and everyone went back to business as usual. However, it basically sent all the \u2018problem gamblers
\n back into the casino - with a new bankroll.<\/p>\n
Now Phil says, we have got the same set of problems - overvalued asset markets - and too many promises to pay - on debts that can never be repaid. Which
\n essentially has set up so many economies around the world to basically fall over at the slightest whiff on any headwind - and now we are in this headwind.
\n COVID.<\/p>\n
Like building up climate-related problems, COVID, plus countries in unrest and civil disorder in so many other countries that the financial system was
\n not ready for this because it was already \u2018running pretty much on fumes.\u2019 So we are up against the same sort of reckoning of 2008 - but this time we
\n do not have the luxury of having to pump limitless amounts of credit into these markets to get them to inflate again. So what are we going to do?<\/p>\n
Phil says that there are a good number of players who are saying let\u2019s get back to work and open up our economies etc - get the money machines flowing
\n and just leverage more things - sell more things and pretend this never happened (sounds familiar?) All Phil can say to this - is good luck with that.<\/p>\n
Because the reality is that people especially now during COVID are reflecting on the present situation and recognise that this is totally unsustainable
\n and realise that we can not just keep on plundering resources and use the oceans and atmosphere for sinks for all of our waste products and not expect
\n it to catch up with us. That there is now no going back - there is now a growing number of people who know that what we have been doing has to change
\n - that we have passed through a one-way gate.<\/p>\n
Cashless Digital Countries - who are going to go first? Sweden, Australia, Norway or Denmark? Phil says that NZ is very close as we are a small country
\n with a very well integrated banking system and that we have been practicing for some while having the first EFTpos card system on the planet - back
\n in the 1990s we put this in place, and it was not that costly and it did not take very long to have it all mesh together with all banks using one EFTPOS
\n machine all connected.<\/p>\n
So NZ was the global guinea pig (like so many other technical test trials). Phil states that NZ is seen as being successful having a nationwide system
\n that can essentially do away with cash using credit and Eftpos cards.<\/p>\n
Phil then mentions that the New Zealand Reserve Bank a year ago sent out a survey form to ask what New Zealanders thought about cash.<\/p>\n
With these questions:<\/p>\n
And what the NZ Reserve Bank concluded was that getting rid of cash would be a bad idea.<\/p>\n
Listen around 10 minutes in:<\/p>\n
Phil says that though we may have in many ways a cashless society - and though the Reserve Bank is wanting it - they will watch the situation and see how
\n it all unfolds.<\/p>\n
Phil says that cash is the only form of money in our broader economy that is not created as private bank interest-bearing debt. This is a larger thing
\n that people tend to leave out of the conversation. That right now 98 and a half percent of the money that is circulating and changing hands and is
\n in transactions every day in NZ was originally created out of thin air by a commercial trading bank as interest\u2019s bearing debt. He says that the cash
\n is kind of interesting because it is the only money that does not have that pedigree. It is the only money that did not come into existence through
\n that original sin … of a mortgage or some other sort of bank loan. The reason this is important is because right now NZ\u2019s private debt to GDP
\n ratio is getting close to 200% - which means that the amount of money that is owed to banks and financial institutions is about double the turnover
\n of our entire economy in a single year. Phil says most of NZ\u2019s money comes into existence when people take out mortgages.<\/p>\n
(Note: I did not want to interrupt Phil - but this Labour Government and the previous National Government have been accepting around 80,000 new immigrants
\n into NZ per year, and I wanted to ask - is this allowing the NZ Government to ride high on the influx of the many millions of dollars flowing into
\n the country as a result of these new residents, bringing all their cash into our economy? <\/p>\n
Phil talks about the housing bubble as this is where most New Zealanders invest their money, and he asks - what will be the trigger when it pops? Because,
\n he says - it\u2019s on its way …<\/p>\n
Hear about the stated policy of NZ\u2019s Reserve Bank via \u2018quantitative easing.\u2019 They are able to print money \u2018by offering it to trading banks\u2019 as a backstop
\n for all the lending that they want to do. The banks are very happy to do this - for by giving out loans this is how they make a profit - the interest
\n on loans is the banks' income source (Note the 4 overseas major banks in NZ made over $10 billion in profits in 2018\/19) So naturally, the top strata
\n of the NZ Banks (Australian owned) want to keep this game going as long as they can.<\/p>\n
Also mentioned in this interview<\/p>\n
Learn that the Govt is acting as a hand brake on the NZ Economy.<\/p>\n
Why do we not learn who the overseas Bankers are, that gives the NZ Govt loans? What bank? What are the terms? That the further you follow the money it
\n has to go higher up the pyramid. Who are the people at the top? There have to be families that benefit from all this money \u2018going uphill.\u2019 Who are
\n they? Why the muteness?<\/p>\n
That NZ debt is continuing to increase. Why the silence from ordinary MPs about this? Because each Party will not allow an MP to break ranks and ask that
\n type of question. The Parties control (muzzle) their members - this is why Parties and NZ politics are increasingly seen to be opaque, stagnant, and
\n moribund. <\/p>\n
That the NZ Government also does not invest its money where it would do the most good.<\/p>\n
Not at the grassroots. Listen to what he says<\/em> - our government is not consciously putting its money into areas where the community most needs Digital exploitation is now rife on a planet that has already been exploited for its natural resources. <\/p>\n Phil says that we have gone into overshoot in terms of what we are doing to the environment - especially freshwater and topsoil, and pollution in general. Crypto Currencies and BlockChain technology<\/strong> - a lot are virtual ponzi schemes and pump and dump scams are in this realm.<\/p>\n BlockChain is a very useful tech - we just have clean out the abuses - so it can be used for the benefit of society <\/p>\n If the Western world went suddenly cashless - would NZ follow?<\/p>\n Steve says keep some cash handy all the same - enough to get you by for a number of days just in case a bank did go down.<\/p>\n He says we are still in the Neoliberal lens and that there are bubbles that could collapse and affect us.<\/p>\n New Zealanders invest and own houses as their investment portfolio - not in new business and enterprises - where overseas that are more entrepreneurial.<\/p>\n It is very important for us to grow our own food where possible, especially organic because we know exactly what we are putting into our bodies. Plus, How do we keep money or \u2018currencies\u2019 working when cash becomes unavailable?<\/p>\n Steve describes how a \u2018Time Bank\u2019 works to show how good and easy it is to implement. That a time bank is a \u2018chit\u2019 that has a number on it - that has a That you can download from the web programs like \u2018Community Weaver\u2019 a dedicated program - or Community Forge - or CES Community Exchange Solutions<\/p>\n A very good example of a community that is working with a Time Banks is Project Lyttelton in the South Island of NZ.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.ourplanet.org\/greenplanetfm\/margaret-jefferies-project-lyttleton-sustainable-community-building-christchurch<\/a> <\/p>\n To obtain more information on making your neighbourhood and local community more self-reliant and resilient go to:<\/p>\n https:\/\/livingeconomies.nz\/<\/a> <\/p>\n Links of interest:<\/p>\n Sweden is the most cashless society today.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/factcheck\/2020\/07\/27\/fact-check-cashless-society-isnt-imminent-wouldnt-eliminate-cash\/5415027002\/<\/a> <\/p>\n
\n it.<\/p>\n
\n That now the only frontiers able to be exploited are the \u2018virtual ones\u2019 by taking advantage of this digital space - the virtual world. This is where
\n we also have to be alert. If you are not savvy with the latest technologies and monetary systems, get \u2018professional\u2019 advice. <\/p>\nCan we prepare Locally and throughout NZ for a perturbation in the currency and cash realm? <\/h3>\n
Becoming Self-reliant and resilient. <\/h3>\n
\n it is fresh and therefore our health is optimised and thus no visits to doctors<\/p>\nTools to sustain us in case of breakdown or emergencies. <\/h3>\n
\n value of \u2018one hour\u2019 and you can trade these within your community if someone can mow lawns and another can cut someone's hair or paint a house and
\n trades with repairing a machine or furniture - these chits can be traded. You can have a small computer run the whole local community and it can have
\n up to a few thousand \u2018locals\u2019 engaged to work this way. <\/p>\n