OCTOBER 21
1808 – BIRTH OF SAMUEL FRANCES SMITH, MINISTER, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR
Smith was also a songwriter. He is best known for writing the lyrics to “My Country Tis of Thee,” which he entitled “America.” Using the same tune, Greenbackers (those who advocated issuing and circulating debt-free US public money) in the 1880’s came up with their own rendition:
Thou, Greenback, ‘tis of thee,
Fair money of the free,
Of thee we sing.
And through all coming time
Great bards in every clime
Will sing with joyful rhyme,
Gold is not king.
Then smash old Shylock’s bonds,
With all his gold coupons,
The banks and rings.
Monopolies must fail,
Rich paupers work in jail,
The ring will then prevail,
Not money kings.
OCTOBER 22
2014 – RELEASE OF THE VIDEO, “THE MONEY FIX: A DOCUMENTARY FOR MONETARY REFORM”
The video provides a good analysis of the problem. Its major solution, however, is limited to organizing community currencies – not addressing macro real monetary reform (e.g. changing laws).
http://www.neverontv.com/the-money-fix-a-documentary-for-monetary-reform/
OCTOBER 23
2008 – TESTIMONY OF ALAN GREENSPAN, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN, BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM (NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE)
Question to Greenspan: “Do you feel that your ideology pushed you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?”
Mr. Greenspan conceded: “Yes, I’ve found a flaw. I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact.” “Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief.”
2009 – PUBLICATION OF ARTICLE, “PRICELESS: HOW THE FEDERAL RESERVE BOUGHT THE ECONOMICS PROFESSION” PUBLISHED BY RYAN GRIM
“The Federal Reserve, through its extensive network of consultants, visiting scholars, alumni and staff economists, so thoroughly dominates the field of economics that real criticism of the central bank has become a career liability for members of the profession, an investigation by the Huffington Post has found. This dominance helps explain how, even after the Fed failed to foresee the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression, the central bank has largely escaped criticism from academic economists. In the Fed’s thrall, the economists missed it, too.
‘The Fed has a lock on the economics world,’ says Joshua Rosner, a Wall Street analyst who correctly called the meltdown. ‘There is no room for other views, which I guess is why economists got it so wrong.’”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/07/priceless-how-the-federal_n_278805.html
OCTOBER 24
2008 – PNC FINANCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION PURCHASES NATIONAL CITY CORPORATION
Using bank bailout funds under the federal TARP program, PNC, headquartered in Pittsburgh, purchases National City Corporation, a major Cleveland based bank. The transaction created the 5th largest U.S. banking corporation. TARP funds were intended to assist struggling banks. The funds ended up in many cases, like PNC, enlarging “too-big-to-fail” banking corporations.
OCTOBER 25
2010 – SPEECH BY SIR MERVYN KING, FORMER GOVERNOR OF THE BANK OF ENGLAND
“Of all the many ways of organizing banking, the worst is the one we have today.
“Change is, I believe, inevitable. The question is only whether we can think our way through to a better outcome before the next generation is damaged by a future and bigger crisis. This crisis has already left a legacy of debt to the next generation. We must not leave them the legacy of a fragile banking system too.”
From speech, “Banking: From Bagehot to Basel, and Back Again” To read a summary and analysis of the talk, go to http://positivemoney.org/2010/10/mervyn-king-of-all-the-many-ways-of-organising-banking-the-worst-is-the-one-we-have-today/
2016 – FINLAND: PARLIAMENT EVENT ON MONETARY REFORM PAVES WAY FOR CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE
“A successful event on monetary reform was held in the Finnish Parliament, featuring valuable expert analysis of sovereign money and two endorsements from Finnish politicians for the QE4People initiative. After pushing the debate in the political scene, the Finnish movement wants to launch a citizens’ initiative.”
http://internationalmoneyreform.org/blog/2016/10/monetary-reform-finnish-parliament/
OCTOBER 26
899 – REIGN OF KING ALFRED OF ENGLAND ENDS
Alfred the Great implemented a law that moneylenders who accepted usury would forfeit all their possessions to the King
OCTOBER 27
1945 – BIRTH OF LULA DE SILVA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL (2003-2010)
“The Third World War has already started. The war is tearing down Brazil, Latin America, and practically all the Third World. Instead of soldiers dying, there are children. It is a war over the Third World debt, one which has as its main weapon, interest, a weapon more deadly than the atom bomb, more shattering than a laser beam.”
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Why this calendar? Many people have questions about the root causes of our economic problems. Some questions involve money, banks and debt. How is money created? Why do banks control its quantity? How has the money system been used to liberate (not often) and oppress (most often) us? And how can the money system be “democratized” to rebuild our economy and society, create jobs and reduce debt? Our goal is to inform, intrigue and inspire through bite size weekly postings listing important events and quotes from prominent individuals (both past and present) on money, banking and how the money system can help people and the planet. We hope the sharing of bits of buried history will illuminate monetary and banking issues and empower you with others to create real economic and political justice. This calendar is the original project of the Northeast Ohio American Friends Service Committee. Adele Looney, Phyllis Titus, Donna Schall, Leah Davis, Alice Francini, Deb Jose and Greg Coleridge helped in its development. It is currently updated by Greg Coleridge. Please forward this to others and encourage them to subscribe. To subscribe/unsubscribe or to comment on any entry, email monetarycalendar@yahoo.com
To see the calendar year-to-date, go to https://monetarycalendar.wordpress.com/
A second historical calendar, the REAL Democracy History Calendar, in many ways complements this calendar. For information, go to https://realdemocracyhistorycalendar.wordpress.com/about/
create real democracy 