Is Banking To Blame for Poverty & Debt? – London, Wed 2nd May

Where: The Hub (http://islington.the-hub.net/), 5 Torrens Street (1 minute from Angel station), London

When: Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012, 6:30 PM

After the talk in Hub we will head to the pub The Arc, Torrens Street (just next to the Hub). If you can't come to the talk, feel free to come to join us in the pub - we'll be there from about 8pm.

Ben Dyson, the founder of Positive Money (http://www.positivemoney.org.uk/) argues that we are in a crisis because so few of us, including policy makers, economists, journalists and ordinary people, truly understand how our monetary system works.

This is a dangerous situation to be in when money drives almost all activity on the planet.

The key flaw in our current banking system is that almost all money is now created by private banks as debt.

In the words of Martin Wolf, writing in the Financial Times, “the essence of the contemporary monetary system is the creation of money, out of nothing, by private banks’ often foolish lending”

Because 97% of our money now is created by banks when they make loans, then money goes wherever the banks decide. We end up with an economy that reflects the needs of profit-seeking banks, rather than the needs of society.

This system fuels instability in the economy, leading to insecure jobs and serious consequences for those in developing countries.

Ben Dyson explains how poverty and high debts are inevitable when all money is created as debt by banks, and how reforming the banking system is essential to dealing with the huge social issues that we face around the world today.

Everyone is welcome! This meetup is for everyone interested to learn more about the flaws in our monetary system and the solutions. Come and feel free to invite your friends who might be interested too.