Greece : Bring in the N-Euro now!!

In my last post, I gave the Greek people a big thankyou for voting a very solid "NO" to the blackmailers at the ECB and within the Eurozone. I suggested three different approaches that they could take in the coming weeks.

But I neglected to mention what I think is probably the simplest and most radical solution to any attempt by the ECB and the Eurozone to break the Greek peoples resolve.

It's my proposal, dating from September 2012, to replace the Euro with the N-Euro - a purely electronic currency, that could be totally independent of the conventional banking system. I also produced a Youtube presentation on the subject - "The N-Euro Solution". Here's my talk in case you are interested - only 13 minutes!

I also mentioned the N-Euro idea in my recent talk to the Toulouse School of Economics in February this year. That's also available in a Youtube presentation - called "Fixing the Economic System" although it's quite a bit longer - about an hour. The bit about using the N-Euro starts around  49:37.

Since 2012 things have moved on.  I've discovered that there is a wonderful system for developing alternative banking systems called Cyclos 4. Developed by the STRO (Social Trade Organisation) they have done a fantastic job putting together a truly solid and professional package that can be configured to run a wide range of alternative currency projects. I note that the STRO has made its own proposal for the Greek Crisis - called "DigiPay4Greece" - there's a pdf about it that you can download.

I used Cyclos to develop my own Owe'm system that allows Citizens to create their own credit by sending the equivalent of IOUs to each other without the need for any money at all. (In passing, I note that Owe'm could also be used by people in Greece - please feel free to try it out!).

Cyclos 4 really is very good.  It's built around industry standard secure software, and they are ready to handle systems with tens of millions of users. It runs on Macs and PCs and there are versions that run beautifully on iPhones and Android devices. The latest version (Cyclos 4.4) includes SMS payments and Point of Sale (PoS) systems. Everything you could really want.

So, Alexis Tsipras. Why not set up a Cyclos based system now? Open accounts for every Greek Citizen, and start paying your pensioners and public sector workers with N-Euros instead of Debt-based Euros on loan from commercial banks. Since the Greek government can produce as many N-Euros as it wants, debt free, they would be showing the entire world that we don't need to rent our money from Commercial Banks.

Peg the value of the N-Euro to the Euro by allowing Greeks to pay their taxes in either conventional debt-based Euros, or the new debt-free N-Euros, and the system will be ready to fly.

Greece would still be able to stay in the Eurozone. After all, Greece would certainly still need to find some "real" Euros to buy imported goods such as petrol and gas, and of course pay the interest on its public sector debt (at least until the time when we all get a debt jubilee).  In addition, Greeks will want to travel abroad and buy things with a Euro credit card - after all, who wants to be ripped off by the Banks who charge 2.5% on top of merchant fees just for converting one currency into another. That' one reason why I am personally a big fan of the Euro.  But every year, millions of people go to Greece on holiday with lots of Euros (and dollars) to spend. I for one intend to go next year to support a brave and valiant people who deserve our support.

Go for it Greece. Tell the International Banking Mafia where they can get off....