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Have you seen the email below? I don’t want you to miss out on reading about the fantastic progress Positive Money supporters have made together this year for our campaign.
Thank you for being part of it. I hope you’re having a lovely Christmas.
Fran and the whole Positive Money team
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It’s been a truly fantastic year for Positive Money. More appearances in the media than ever before, high-profile politicians acknowledging the UK’s monetary policy is broken, hundreds of us meeting in our communities to spread the Positive Money message, and more top economists backing our proposals for a fairer, more democratic and sustainable money system.
Together we’re pushing the case for money reform out of the shadows and into the mainstream. Thank you for being part of it.
Now we have an opportunity to build on this success and take our campaign to the next level in 2017. The more of us who donate to make our campaign work possible, the more impact we will have together next year.
Here are just some of the things we’ve achieved together in 2016…
Key government ministers and politicians started to agree with us
Several leading politicians publicly acknowledged that monetary policy is contributing to inequality: Theresa May, George Osborne, Vince Cable, Labour and SNP MPs, and members of the Treasury Select Committee. This is after nearly every MP in the country got an email from a Positive Money supporter, inviting them to the first ever debate in parliament on the effects of quantitative easing (QE).
It’s a huge step forwards. Because now that politicians are starting to accept that monetary policy isn’t working, they’ll be more interested in our proposals to reform it.
Positive Money also held packed-out panel debates at both the Conservative and Labour Party Conferences. And we delivered a 10,000-strong petition to the new Chancellor calling for Money Creation for People, not financial markets.
http://positivemoney.org/2016/12/10000-strong-petition-delivered-to-the-treasury/
Positive Money hit the mainstream media more than ever before
BBC Newsnight, broadsheet newspapers, magazines and the radio – this year there’s seen a big increase in coverage of the Positive Money campaign. We’re now an established authority on monetary policy and QE. And we’ve pushed our images into the media, thanks to brave Positive Money supporters who took our bold and bright message to the Bank of England – twice!
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-17/bank-of-england-told-bond-buying-won-t-work-as-protesters-gather
We talked to hundreds of people in our communities about the case for money reform
In June, we launched the Positive Money Speakers Network. And our speakers didn’t waste any time in getting out and about! Like Charles, who spoke to over 100 people alongside two top economics professors in Shropshire. Or John, who spoke at Chester Cathedral. And Frances, who delivered a five-hour workshop in Cheltenham for the Workers Educational Association.
In November, 11 Positive Money local groups ran street stalls in town centres across the UK.
http://positivemoney.org/2016/11/people-across-uk-demand-qe-for-people-not-financial-markets/
We spread the word that the Bank of England is pumping billions of pounds into financial markets, when it could choose to spend that money on projects like housing and green infrastructure. Together we gathered hundreds of new signatures on the petition!
http://act.positivemoney.org/page/s/create-money-for-people
We published important research in important places
And we helped change Bank of England policy!
After Positive Money submitted reports and had meetings with policy makers at the Bank of England, the Bank announced a policy change that we’ve been arguing for two years. Non-bank ‘payment service providers’ will now be able hold accounts at the Bank of England, so that they can compete with existing banks to provide current (checking) accounts.
http://positivemoney.org/2016/06/bank-of-england-uk-banks-to-lose-their-status-as-gatekeepers-to-the-payment-system/
This is a very positive breakthrough! It will break the stranglehold that large UK banks have over the provision of payment accounts, which will reduce their power. It’s a step towards more changes that would limit banks’ ability to create money. And it’s a demonstration of our power – much of the Bank’s reasoning for making this change was in line with our proposals!
We persuaded more top economists to back our call for money creation for people
Throughout the year, we’ve hosted conferences and panel discussions, bringing together a number of renowned economists – all the time working to build key relationships. Last month, 30 economists, academics and PhD candidates gathered in the Netherlands, at a meeting hosted by Positive Money and our Dutch sister organisation Ons Geld, to discuss the big questions that need addressing about sovereign money creation, and to plan further research and collaboration.
Positive Money’s letter to the Chancellor
http://positivemoney.org/2016/08/leading-economists-to-chancellor-time-to-support-alternatives-to-quantitative-easing/
– calling for QE to be replaced with a stimulus directed at the real economy – has been signed by 40 of the UK’s leading economists. When the Bank of England announced a new round of QE, our letter was covered in the Guardian, and several TV and radio stations. This success shows that we’re building a credible case for reforming monetary policy and are increasingly being taken seriously by economists and the media.
We built our knowledge, got active, and made friends in our blossoming network
More than 7000 people have joined the Positive Money mailing list this year, bringing us up to nearly 40,000 supporters! Together we’re signing and sharing petitions, writing to our MPs and keeping in touch to share and inspire each other. And we’re active offline too…
30 local groups, from Bournemouth to Edinburgh, Newcastle to Devon, have held monthly meetings to educate each other on monetary reform and plan actions together. You’ve created card games, street stall activities, and booklets. You’ve held film screenings, talks at festivals and shown what’s possible when dedicated individuals come together in our communities.
In September, 30 dedicated Positive Money supporters spent two days together in the Lake District. We did workshops to develop ourselves as leaders, devised campaign strategies, and built new relationships across the network. We all came away more passionate and fired-up than ever.
And we started making waves in Europe too:
http://www.qe4people.eu/highlights_conference_european_parliament_qe_for_people
In February we launched our exciting Eurozone campaign, “Quantitative Easing for People”, with a conference event in the European Parliament. Following this, 19 MEPs signed an open letter to the European Central Bank (ECB) in June.
https://www.ft.com/content/c5d08c5c-339c-11e6-bda0-04585c31b153
Then we helped push the European Parliament to adopt a critical resolution on the ECB’s quantitative easing programme in November.
http://www.qe4people.eu/eu_parliament_report_unprecedented_level_of_concern_on_ecb
And this month, the ECB finally admitted that “QE for People” would be legal under certain conditions in the Eurozone.
http://www.qe4people.eu/ecb_letter_helicopter_money_legally_feasible
Together we’re showing decision makers in the Eurozone that they should seriously consider helicopter money. And with the idea making progress in Europe, it will help our cause for money creation for people in the UK too.
With your help, we’ve achieved so much together in 2016. We’re now really excited about what could happen in 2017.
please will you help make sure we scale up our actions together in 2017 by making a donation now?
http://act.positivemoney.org/page/content/xmas-fundraiser-landing/
http://act.positivemoney.org/page/content/xmas-fundraiser-landing-regular/
Thank you so much for making our campaign for a money system that works for society possible.
The whole team at Positive Money wish you a warm, safe, and very merry Christmas
Fran, Ben, David, Mira, Stan, Zack, Rachel, Frank and Sophie
www.positivemoney.org
PS: There’s some big news for the Positive Money team. After nearly seven years at Positive Money, Ben Dyson will be leaving us at the end of 2016. He is taking up a research role at the Bank of England, focusing on whether and how central banks should issue a central bank digital currency (to operate alongside physical cash).
Ben says “It’s been incredible to be a part of Positive Money for the last seven years, and I’d like to thank everyone who has been involved and made it possible. Through the work of our team in London, our groups across the UK, and our sister organisations around the world, and everyone who helps in any way they can, we’ve triggered a global debate about how money and banking should be reformed. Positive Money has never been in a better position to make an impact.”
Our Research Goes On
Our research work into sovereign money systems (in which all money is created by the central bank) will still go on. Sovereign money is getting more interest, both in the UK and internationally. We’re hiring a replacement for Ben, and will be working to make sure that the best researchers stay focused on this area. |
haluise 