How to Break the Power of the Banks

Money makes the world go round: but what is it really? And how is it produced? Above all, who controls its production, and in whose interests? Money is never a neutral medium of exchange. Nor are bankers simply go-betweens for savers and borrowers. How can democracies reclaim control over money production? Leading political economist Ann Pettifor visits the RSA to explain the money system – history’s most misunderstood invention. She lays out a blueprint for how we can subordinate the out-of-control finance sector to the interests of society and the ecosystem – how we can link the money in our pockets (or on our smartphones) to the change we want to see in the world around us. She also examines and assesses popular alternative debates on, and innovations in, money: positive money, helicopter money and the rise of goldbugs.