But money is no longer a material thing, like gold. It has no form other than the few bills we see in our wallets. Most money today is in the form of computer Records, and is managed only by computers in Banks all over the World. In there, it is added and subtracted from separate accounts as people's transactions are recorded. But it can also be multiplied and divided, in fact any mathematical formula can be applied to it, with the help of computers.

Suppose that all money were in Electronic form, including what is currently known as cash. Could we not then control all of the functions we wish to perform on it?

Think of New Money as water, as abundant and as necessary to life as water. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of money in a national economy, just as there is no limit to the amount of water in the ocean.

If the water were to be contained, as in a lake for example, we can see that it is like a national economy. If the lake is separated into individual roped off tracts, we can compare it to a Free World economy. There are many tracts on the lake, some larger than others, and most sadly of a small size huddled on to the side.

But suppose this lake has no river feeding it. It would remain stagnant and would not grow, since the only way to increase the size of an tract is at the expense of another, by taking from one tract to fill up another. Soon such borrowing is no longer enough and we must start assigning tickets for future rainfall, and sadly again it is the large tracts that receive most of that.

But in Nature most lakes that remain alive are those with a river feeding into it. The level of the entire lake grows until it fits into the banks in a way that is Perfect for it. The fresh water enters the lake continuously giving new life to all. And since this lake is a Free Democracy, the small tracks receive as much water as can be absorbed by their size, soon increasing them and increasing the size of the lake.

If a healthy lake has no outlet, it will overflow and the water will cause Environmental harm. But a lake with a well balanced outlet will keep the right amount of water for all life in it, and never grow stagnant.

Well, with the help of computers we can define a program which will let us in effect control the amount of Money that can be contained in our economy, without overflowing into inflation.

A national system which could be the Federal Reserve Bank would generate enough monetary recourses to satisfy the economic needs of all those in the economy. Such New Money would flow into the projects and programs that the citizens of the country decide they prefer, via the budget process in the US Congress, or in the future via the direct allocation of funds using home computers (future TV's).

The budget limits would be eliminated permanently, and we would again be free of the chains of an economic formula we inherited from the royal crown of England some centuries ago.

The only problem with New Money or generated money is not how much will be given out, but when does the Money cause inflation, where and for how much.

The Money outlet could be a monthly inflation tax which is applied to all bank debits. All checks, withdrawals, and the like would pay the tax. The tax would be all inclusive, with no exemptions of any kind and applied only to individuals.

The rate of the inflation tax would be set every month, and those individuals who would pay the tax would also be variable. This single tax could replace all other forms of national taxation in the future, once we have enough experience with it.

The money collected from the inflation tax would be erased from the computer records, just as the water that runs off a lake into a river flows into the sea.

The values in the individual accounts would remain the same if the tax is applied across all bank balances with an equal percentage. However, if the tax is applied on a progressive scale, the effects of poverty will gradually disappear.

The inflation tax is far superior to the present tax chaos. Consider that the tax is applied on inflated amounts and not on values. As such, if prices are held to a level consistent with the month's inflation tax rate, then the tax is in effect a re-valuation of the currency which is totally painless, since the amounts removed are worth nothing.

Giving without taking, this is progress. We must all understand the program in order to climb the Summit of Human Potential. Because if we are trying to improve our lives and the life of our Planet without adequate monetary supply, we are simply fooling ourselves.

Atlanta,
July 14, 1993