Re:Global Currency System

[Srinath S <srinaths@usa.net>]

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Dear Max, 

This is getting to be an interesting debate. Perhaps we might go off the list
to debate in more detail. 

Here are some websites of interest on globalization and monetary systems. If
you have any more to add, I'd surely be interested to know. 

http://www.transaction.net/ 
http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/money.html 
http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/ 
http://www.newciv.org/whole/monetarysystem.html 
http://www.worldtrans.org/sovereignty.html 
http://www.worldcitizen.org/ 


Coming to your points.... 
 
<<
Defining global currency relative to energy is not
that difficult, all we need is a definition

X money/currency = value of Y calories of energy produced
                   using a certain standard process.

The international consensus required for making this
definition is  the same as that needed for defining,
standards like length, weight, time.

Once this standard definition for currency is made the
valuation of every product, service will become relative
to the global standard of currency/money, the market
forces will work as it is now, it will only remove the
anomaly in global trade that has come due to the arbitrary
valuation of fiat currencies of various countries.
>> 

It is a bit more complex than that, at least. The above measure of
energy-currency would clash with the egalitarian notion of a right to survive.
Survival requires certain kinds of tasks to be performed. And the energy
required to perform these tasks would be dependent on the local climate,
natural resources, etc. An energy based currency system would favour
geographical regions that are resource rich and/or have a favourable climate
thus requiring lesser energy to perform survival related tasks. 

<<
This is exactly why we need a global currency, when
someone uses lot of machines/energy to manufacture a product
the cost of the product should reflect the energy deployed
to produce it.
>> 

Yes, but when that is the only way to produce something in some area, then
these costs should be normalized against something -- something that reflects
the right of every person to survive. This is the reason I gave an example of
south India versus north Sweden. Simple changes like length of the day or
average temperature can drastically vary lifestyles; bringing in drastically
different energy requirements to just survive. 


<<
The necessity of a *global currency* with the evolution
of *global trade* is part of the evolution process.....

All i am saying is if the global currency does not evolve
with globalisation of trade then it will become economic
colonisation situation......
>> 

In the present hierarchical setup the "developed" nations have an advantage
that feeds unto itself. Similarly the weaker currencies have a disadvantage
that feeds unto themselves. The strong currencies stand to get stronger and
the weaker currencies stand to get weaker. Let me call this the RRPP (rich
getting richer, poor getting poorer) phenomenon. 

The moment one utters anything remotely similar to the above statement; a huge
crowd of "liberals" would pounce upon the utterer calling him Leftist,
socialist, blah blah. 

But there is a very important difference between RRPP phenomena happening
within a single economic framework and across economic frameworks. Within a
single economic framework, there always exist *opportunities* for the poor to
work and get richer; but across economic frameworks, this RRPP phenomena is
due to reasons entirely different. Here local opportunities tend to get
stifled for more lucrative "global" opportunities. 

And this phenomenon is what many people call "economic colonization." But I
would not use that term. Colonization, as seen in the previous centuries were
a result of wanton acts of vandalism and conflicts. But today's economic 
problems are simply because of yesterday's decisions taken in yesterday's
contexts. 
 

Best Regards, 
Srinath 

PS: I am conducting a small experiment to create a "knowledge economy" to
better understand this concept of money. Please do have a look at
http://www.ideasforindia.net/ 


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