Monetary reform in Britain

Monetary reform is the process of fundamentally changing policies regarding money. It can include changes to the money creation process, fractional-reserve banking, financial institutions, financing of the economy and social credit among other things.^[1]

History

19th century

British monetary reform has historical roots in questioning the gold standard during the Industrial Revolution. The Currency School and Banking School debates of the 1840s laid groundwork for later reform movements,^[2] particularly around the Bank Charter Act of 1844.^[3]

Post-World War I

The economic disruptions following World War I sparked renewed interest in monetary reform. John Maynard Keynes published A Tract on Monetary Reform in 1923.^[4] Unemployment, economic instability, and gold standard issues created interest in alternative economic theories.^[5]

C. H. Douglas and the Social Credit-movement

C. H. Douglas, founder of the Social Credit-theory. Photo taken in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 1934.

In the years around 1920 the British engineer C. H. Douglas developed a theory on banking and welfare distribution, a theory which he called "Social Credit", and which soon became the cornerstone of an international movement with the same name. However, Douglas himself warned against viewing the Social Credit solely as a scheme for monetary reform. Personally he preferred to describe it as "the policy of a philosophy" or, to be exact, the policy of "practical Christianity".^[6] This policy, linked to this philosophy, is all about dispersing economic and political power to individuals. As he once wrote, "Systems were made for men, and not men for systems, and the interest of man which is self-development, is above all systems, whether theological, political or economic."^[7]

Recent development and debate

Michael Rowbotham's The Grip of Death, published 1998, was an attack on the banking system as well as the politics of globalization, free trade and growth-oriented strategies based on these lines. The book was widely spread and got reviews in magazines such as The Ecologist,^[8] Resurgence, New Internationalist, The Tribune, The Tablet, Sustainable Economics, Permaculture Magazine, Food Magazine and Social Credit.^[9] Some of the British monetary reformers, such as Michael Rowbotham, are influenced by the Social Credit-movement.

The Money Reform Party^[10][11] was founded by Anne Belsey from Kent in 2005 and deregistered in 2014.^[12] Belsey stood for the MRP in the 2006 Bromley and Chislehurst by-election and came last with 33 votes. She stood in Canterbury in 2010^[13] and came last with 173 votes. Author Mark Braund recommended the MRP website "which includes a compelling explanation of the mechanics of money creation and its impact on society".^[14]

2008 financial crisis

The 2008 financial crisis sparked significant renewed interest in monetary reform. Several organizations emerged or gained prominence:

• Positive Money became a leading advocacy group, promoting sovereign money creation.^[15]
• New Economics Foundation contributed research and policy proposals for banking sector reform.^[16]

Papers

• 2010 – Towards a Twenty-First Century Banking and Monetary System, Joint Submission to the Independent Commission on Banking, UK (Chair: Professor Sir John Vickers), with Ben Dyson, Tony Greenham, Josh Ryan-Collins, by the Centre for Banking, Finance and Sustainable Development, the new economics foundation, and Positive Money, submitted 19 November 2010 PDF^[17]

See also

• Money portal
• Business and Economics portal

• List of monetary reformers
• Universal basic income in the United Kingdom

References

1. For an example of the use of the term, see this contribution from Bilderberg.org
2. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Springer. 18 May 2016. ISBN 978-1-349-58802-2.
3. Glasner, David (16 December 2013). Business Cycles and Depressions: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-54520-7.
4. Arnon, Arie; Marcuzzo, Maria Cristina; Rosselli, Annalisa (11 February 2022). Financial Markets in Perspective: Lessons from Economic History and History of Economic Thought. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-030-86753-9.
5. Youngson, A. J. (5 November 2013). Britain's Economic Growth 1920-1966. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-58930-0.
6. C.H. Douglas. "The Policy of a Philosophy". Australian League of Rights. Archived from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
7. Douglas, C.H. (1974). Economic Democracy, Fifth Authorised Edition. Epsom, Surrey, England: Bloomfield Books. pp. 18. ISBN 0-904656-06-3. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
8. Hutchinson, Frances. "The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery and Destructive Economics". go.gale.com. The Ecologist (Vol. 29, Issue 1). Retrieved 12 July 2025.
9. "Michael Rowbotham: Written in Belief | Scoop News".
10. "Money Reform Party". Archived from the original on 12 October 2016.
11. Frisby, Dominic (18 September 2008). "The Money Reform Party". Frisby's Bulls And Bears. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
12. "Money Reform Party". Open Electoral Commission. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
13. "Election candidates so far for Canterbury and Whitstable". This is Kent. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
14. "Money for nothing". The Observer. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
15. Weber, Beat (17 May 2018). Democratizing Money?: Debating Legitimacy in Monetary Reform Proposals. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-17392-6.
16. Arestis, Philip; Sawyer, Malcolm (20 October 2014). Economic Policies of the New Thinking in Economics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-85049-6.
17. Gould, B. (16 September 2013). Myths, Politicians and Money: The Truth Behind the Free Market. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-35863-9.