Product Description

Any economically viable region can create a currency viable only within its borders, use that created capital to build infrastructure and industry, and the circulation of that money will operate a prosperous economy. Simultaneous with the 800-year evolution from plunder by raids to Plunder by Trade, wealth and power established Western property rights law. Those laws appropriated massive sums of money which became capitalism's financial engine. But its efficiency is an illusion. Not only are those laws the foundation of poverty and wars, full and equal rights--as laid out by America's premier economic philosopher Henry George--creates an economic engine half the size with twice the power. The causes of war are eliminated, poverty disappears as technology spreads quickly across the world, a quality life for all the world's citizens can be had in two generations, and the employed labor time for each world citizen drops to 2 to 3 days per week.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #590692 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 216 pages

About the Author
J.W. Smith, with a PhD in Environmental Economics from Union Institute and University, Cleveland, Ohio has written six books on the elimination of poverty and war. He has been invited, and has presented, his concepts in 10 countries. commongoodbank.com is establishing a local currency banking system based on his insights on banking with the intended goal of providing banking services at 1/3 the cost of monopolized banking. Through a professors lecture, his concepts showed up in Indonesia's major newspaper and they are being studied at that university. He has had many such compliments from all over the world.

Customer Reviews

Caveat Emptor, Let the Buyer Be Aware; Toxic Fraud Ahead
I have read Mr. Smith's book and have found it to be thoroughly appalling. There are several aspects to Mr. Smith's book which potential readers need to be aware of. The only reason I have given this book a rating of "1" is that there was no lower category available. Smith is a total fraud, from his online PhD from the Union Institute and University which has never had a branch in Cleveland, though he is recorded as having received a degree in Cincinnati to the contents of this book. I have spent about a week's worth of time analyzing it toward writing a review, and it just seems like a waste of time, and he has not demonstrated enough respect for the related domain of knowledge to expend that much effort. This book is both self published and self distributed, which means that there is no related peer review at an appropriate level of recognition and competence. The contents will look alternately confusing and scrambled just on an organizational consideration.

When I dug into his references to various US laws, he was flatly wrong in how those laws are applied making his book a work of fiction more than fact.The clue perhaps is in his out of context reference to perception management, because overall that seems to be the primary purpose of this book. He has the chutzpah to declare that the authors of "Modern Money Mechanics" are wrong about how money operates. The falsity of his pretense is breathtaking. Modern Money Mechanics was first published in 1962 by the US Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and was distributed as a public education piece. It is well recognized as being accurate. By Smith's assertion those authors don't understand the monetary process, yet Smith because he has a mail order PhD and is self publishing his book he gets to wildly pontificate, with the aid of two either very ignorant or shill reviewers. I checked up on his degree process and the domain of his dissertation was "environmental political economics" whatever that is supposed to be is largely a mystery, Smith now presents himself as an "economist" which in itself is an extraordinary bit of pretense. Further, the two professors who were on his dissertation committee both had degrees in political science. I suspect that their primary interest in economics is more at the level receiving a paycheck for handing out phony PhDs.

When Smith cites legislation related to monetary issues, you need to actually go and locate the text of that legislation. You will find that most of the time he is lying about the meaning of that legislation. He also likes to cherry pick through economic history or make excessively broad generalizations to pretend to prove his assertions. Being able to realize this level of fraud require a deeper knowledge of economic theory and history. He also comes up with his own ideas which are contrary to most legitimate treatment of monetary history and reform. His definition of money is based upon the assertion that it is easier to visualize than how it is described in Modern Money Mechanics or by legitimate authors on the topic. He often references other self published books which make those references close to impossible to check. This includes authors that distribute through his website which makes for a cozy clubhouse but not a credible and open discourse. When he does reference recognized authors such as William Grieder the passage had no bearing on material written by Smith. Most readers will not have the background or immediately available to verify his references, and he relies on that lack of knowledge to sell his manure scented snake oil. The net effect of reading this book is likely that people will come away more confused or they will greatly regret buying it.

He also abuses the principles advocated by Henry George, most often by replacing the meanings intended by George with Smith's own interpretation. Smith actually praises the Owen Glass Act which established the privatization and centralization of the US banking system, which is exactly opposite what people who are both serious about monetary reform and have a serious interest in the topic will say. Most of the material used by Smith to make his material seem attractive are established as validations by association. In a basic way Smith is a major disinformation fraud using buzz words and people's low level of economic literacy to advance his ravings. Most of the positives are there to establish a lack of skepticism and to dis-able any level of critical thinking skills.

If you are serious about wanting to know more about monetary reform, I strongly urge you to visit the American Monetary Institute web site and read the articles and book reviews there FOR FREE, and then maybe attend one of their annual conferences. If you want more material FOR FREE also visit the Re-Imagining Economics via search engine. I can be contacted through that website to answer additional questions. If you spend a bit of time investigating the history of dis-information that has been applied to confuse the public during times when monetary reform was being discussed nationally, you will realize that Smith is grandly carrying on that tradition. In some sense this book is a disinformation caricature of the nonsense strung together to validate free market economics, which has delivered the current economic collapse. This book is worse than a serious waste of paper, it effectively is promoting dis-information.

Economics: The real story
If like me you've always felt a little unsure what those self-proclaimed financial gurus on FNC thought they were talking about, read this book. Because for every neo liberal platitude the talking heads on the tube mouth these days, while the economy is obviously going down the tubes, this book offers a rational, common sense explanation that reveals the deeper economic current underneath. Current monetary policy is exposed as a monopoly. The real story on money creation, public debt, and how private property rights are monoplized, is explained without resorting to abstrations or overly obscure terminology. So do yourself a real favor - as opposed to going on another diet - and find out why you're becoming poorer while the elite become wealthier.

Home Run
JW Smith's books have been an essential tool in my continued study of "how the world works". This outline of money's true value exposes the hidden monopoly structures that disenfranchise the majority of common people through the exclusive entitlements of a hand-picked minority. As a friend of mine is fond of saying: "It might not be right, but it is legal". Alternately, Dr. Smith presents a progressive vision of how the world might work under more democratic "terms and conditions" that eliminate legalized theft, also known as "unearned income". Neither poverty or monopoly can possibly exist in a world where labor is fully paid for their work. JW Smith steps up to the plate, swings the bat, and drives home the far-reaching implications of this truth. It's about time somebody did. Thanks for your work, Dr. Smith!