The BBC and anthropologist David Graeber produced a 10 part series Promises, Promises: A History of Debt providing background on the history of money and debt- a worthy listen.
The final episode "Hope" wraps up the issue nicely highlighting the debt forgiveness central banks gave the finance sector in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Graeber argues historical precedent exists for a more broad based debt forgiveness and is in order. A radical change from the status quo wherein even in cases of fraud the financial sector has managed mostly unscathed in being held to account.
Graeber ends by highlighting the important evolution of money from commodity to virtual/fiat. Concluding that "There is every reason to believe that, if we are indeed heading towards a long period of virtual money, the predominant economic system in this period might also be something different."
Programs like these serve to highlight both historical precedents and evolution of our economic system. We believe the current system wherein the primacy of the financial sector in managing the creation of money occurs at the expense of democratic institutions and the public good. Only via informed elected representatives and constituents will credit and money power be maintained for the public interest.
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