The monetary system is the indispensable missing link in the debate of sustainability, and whether the current financial system can handle these evolved needs. To date, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) primarily have been financed either through the private sector, through conventional public sector taxes and fees, or through philanthropic commitment. Assuming a need of 4 to 5 trillion dollars annually in the 10 to 15 years left to finance our future, these conventional sources of finance are insufficient in terms of both the scale and speed of funding required to finance our future. Furthermore, the inherent instability of our financial system forces the world community to focus first and foremost on repairing and stabilizing the existing system. The development of cryptocurrencies using distributed ledger technologies (mainly blockchain) has prompted leading central banks to study the potential application of this approach to independently create purchasing power. In this vein, this book offers a new approach, namely introducing a parallel electronic currency specifically designed to finance global common goods and provide the resources necessary to achieve the SDGs. Furthermore, this mechanism would have a stabilizing effect on the existing monetary system. The book argues that one way this could be achieved is by giving central banks a modified monetary mandate to inject new liquidity into the system using a top-down approach. Alternatively, liquidity could come from corporate or communal initiatives with crypto- or communal currencies in a bottom-up approach. The author maintains that by issuing a blockchain-enabled parallel electronic currency earmarked for SDG-related projects and using other channels for monetary flow rather than the conventional ones, the future could be financed in a different manner. In the long run, abandoning our current monetary monoculture and introducing a monetary ecosystem would stabilize international financial markets, increase monetary regulatory efforts, reduce negative externalities, create a social Pareto optimum and stabilize democracies. This book presents, in the same spirit as Fritjof Capra's The Tao of Physics, a Tao of finance--an outside-of-the-box approach to financing global common goods.

Development needs to meet the UN SDG have primarily been financed through private sector financing, conventional public sector funding and philanthropic commitment. These sources are not sufficient in scale and speed to meet the pressing finance needs. The world community is too busy repairing, stabilizing, and refunding the system to maintain the stability of the existing system. The introduction of a parallel electronic currency specifically designed to finance global commons, and a human-centred economy would provide the necessary resources to achieve the UN SDGs while stabilizing the existing monetary system. This book analyses how the development of cryptocurrencies based on blockchain distributed ledger technologies has prompted leading central banks around the world to study the potential application of this approach to directly inject purchasing power without dependence on the banking system. Furthermore, the book illustrates how this approach can be utilized to finance the huge multi-trillion dollar annual investment requirements for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). With a Foreword from the President of the Club of Rome. “This book is where fiction turns into fact.” - World Bestselling Author of ‚The Minister of the Future‘ Stan Robinson “...challenging, innovative and interdisciplinary... to address the world’s problems.” - Founder and Father of the Quantitative Easing (QE), Prof. Dr. Richard Werner, Oxford University, GB “The real tragedy of the commons, as this book shows, is that we have allowed the most valuable social resources, our money and legal systems, to be employed for private gain instead of mobilizing them for social goals, not the least to ensure the survival of the human species on this planet.” - Best-selling author of ‚The code of capital’ Katharina Pistor, Edwin B. Parker Professor of Comparative Law and Director, Center on Global Legal Transformation Columbia Law School, USA

Financing the Future explains how the unique governance arrangements and financial model of Multilateral Development Banks (MDB) shape their behavior. Outlining a theoretical framework suitable to the 30-odd MDBs around the world, the book uses this to show how different sets of MDBs are grappling with the challenges of the 21st century. This is the first book to explain the core of the MDB model as a unique class of international institution and shows how that model is playing out the traditional large MDBs, smaller borrower-led banks, and the two new MDBs recently created with the support of China. The combination of an original theoretical approach, rich quantitative and qualitative empirics, and clear writing means this book will appeal to both academic and practitioner audiences.

Bringing money home - real people and real stories from the Slow Money movement

Discover the inspiring national bestseller about aging and health that "will help us all live each year to the fullest" (Sheryl Sandberg). We've all seen the ads on TV and in magazines-"50 is the new 30!" or "60 is the new 40!" A nice sentiment to be sure, but CEO of AARP Jo Ann Jenkins disagrees. 50 is 50, and she, for one, likes the look of it. In Disrupt Aging, Jenkins focuses on three core areas-health, wealth, and self-to show us how to embrace opportunities and change the way we look at getting older. Here, she chronicles her own journey and that of others who are making their mark as disruptors to show readers how we can be active, healthy, and happy as we get older. Through this powerful and engaging narrative, she touches on all the important issues facing people 50+ today, from caregiving and mindful living to building age-friendly communities and making our money last. This is a book for all the makers and doers who have a desire to continue exploring possibilities, to celebrate discovery over decline, and to seek out opportunities to live the best life there is.