Logo degrowth

Blog

"The dollar is approaching its collapse, which will force a reconfiguration of our systems of money, finance and banking"

14.02.2014

Interview with Ole Bjerg Ole Bjerg is associate professor at the Copenhagen Business School. He writes for the ephemera Journal and is one of the organizers of the conference "Organizing for the post-growth economy". He gave us a short interview for the Stream towards Degrowth.  

Imagine we're living in the future, say in the year 2030, in a time of well-being. Humanity
enjoys a good life beyond economic growth. Let's look back at the last few decades.
1. In what respect did society depend on growth? Society depends on the growth of living organisms, plants and animals. However, this kind of growth is taking place within a natural cycle of life and death so that nothing grows infinitely. 2.What obstacles impeded a turning away from economic growth? The major obstacle was the creation of money by banks as interest bearing debt. As soon as this obstacle was overcome through a monetary reform the need for perpetual economic growth became obsolete. 3. How did your actions contribute to a society beyond growth? Through my writing and teaching I played an active role in raising the awareness of the detrimental effects of the past monetary system and the benefits of the implementation of a new system based on full reserve banking. 4. From your point of view, what does well-being imply in a society that consciously chose low production and consumption levels? Freedom in the sense of being in control and in contact with the means of one’s own subsistence. 5. Which signs for a world beyond growth did you already notice in 2013? That the dollar is approaching its collapse, which will force a reconfiguration of our systems of money, finance and banking.

Share on the corporate technosphere


Our republication policy

Support us

Blog

Support degrowth.info

Group5 1

By: International Editorial Team of Degrowthinfo

We live in troubling times that require bold ideas and transformative solutions. For many ‘degrowth’ has become the beacon of hope that shines through the darkness, illuminating our path forward. With your help, ‘degrowth.info’ will make this light shine as bright as possible. Please support our efforts via our crowdfunding campaign. Dear friends, amigas, prijateljice, copines, přátelé, Fr...

Blog

Breaking the chains of delusion -Technological progress mythologies and the pitfalls of digitalization

37477886334 2824c59754 z

By: Fabian Scheidler

When it comes to technological development, I often hear the words: What can be done will be done – sooner or later. Many people think that technological development follows a path directed by quasi-natural laws that head into one and only one direction – called “progress” – which is: to use more technology, more complex technology, more expensive technology, more powerful technology. Now, if t...

Blog

In Defense of Degrowth - Opinions and Minifestos

Kallis 1

By: Joan Martinez-Alier

A collection of Giorgos Kallis´ articles now available as e-book The first time I heard Giorgos Kallis speak was in Lisbon about ten years ago at a meeting of the European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE). He has remained faithful to this field, contributing to the exciting debates on an ecological macroeconomics without growth or “prosperity without growth”. In Lisbon he did not yet ta...