becomes possible to understand its folly. Ever since the original publication of �101� , evidence has mounted that people would be content to produce and consume less under conditions of income security (see Juliet Schor The Overworked American and Joe Dominguez and Vici Robin Your Money or Your Life). The absurdity of overproduction and the constant dangers of economic competition escalating into warfare and ecological disaster run throughout the booklet. From its inception in the early 1920s the social credit movement proposed practical, ecologically sound and socially just economics, compatible with green and feminist principles. Its 'failure' is not in its arguments, but in its ability to be heard. The power of global capitalism to silence dissent continues: Q96 would today be answered in like manner by Noam Chomsky (See, e.g. Necessary Illusions. Thought Control in De�mocratic Societies).

Equally, Q.35 remains highly topical. The failure of the elected social credit government of Alberta to introduce social credit was due to the fact that Alberta was merely a province without sovereign powers. Once again, our history has been suppressed (See Frances Hutchinson and Brian Burkitt The Political Economy of Social Credit and Guild Socialism for documentation of social credit history). The UK will be in exactly the same position as Alberta, unable to introduce economic democracy, if or when it effectively hands over sovereignty in return for the EMU. This is not parochialism. Rather it spells solidarity with other cultures across the globe in a common fight against global capital (see Patrick Curry's Defending Middle-earth. Tolkien: Myth and Modernity).

The core concept of social credit is the debt-creation of money. People and resources are sucked into the service of finance-driven capitalism, to be spewed out as waste, through the mechanism of indebtedness. The phenomenon occurs in many different forms, with identical results. In the case of Third World debt, for example, institutions governed by the so-called 'developed' world lent (and still lend) money to developing nations. The loans enable 'developing' nations to buy goods and services on offer from Western firms and institutions, including armaments, big dam and other 'development' projects, and the services of experts and academics. In many instances, loans are tied to specific products or projects. Having spent the borrowed money in this way, the 'developing' countries find themselves in trade deficit, faced with the necessity to export cash crops and mineral resources in order to redress the imbalance in trade. On the identical principle, loans for the purpose of investment within a 'developed' country are allocated on grounds of financial speculation, with other considerations coming a poor second. The removal of financial speculation as the motive-power for production and distribution of incomes is the primary aim of social credit. To this end, the notion of the 'Just' or 'scientific' price remains central (Q14). Equally, however, it remains the least adequately explored concept throughout social credit literature, to date, with this booklet being no exception.

The current edition of '101' can provide little more than a sketchy introduction to social credit economic philosophy. Nevertheless, in the present climate where the philosophical neutrality of mainstream economics is coming under review (see wwwpaecon.net), the search for alternatives may usefully commence with a reexamination of existing literature, adapting it to current circumstances. The alternative is to reinvent wheels of all manner of shapes and sizes, reverting by default to the status quo. We can recommend this booklet as a handy guide to the study of other texts on social credit, including, for adventurous spirits, Douglas' original works. Modern readers will find the identical questions raised in the early decades of the twentieth century as are being discussed today: the connections between economic competition and warfare, the expansion of environmentally destructive production to maintain full employment, the failure of technology to produce increased leisure, the destruction of sustainable farming and replacement by agribusiness. Last, but by no means least, Q57 envisages a "Social Credit Europe" of independent sovereign countries each regulating its own system of distribution and production through control of its social credit. Although money is what makes the economy tick over (Good idea, we have the resources, but where's the money to come from?) mainstream theory remains adamant: money is nothing more than a useful device for regulating exchanges. Since study of alternative theories takes a considerable amount of time, this booklet offers a useful short cut for newcomers to social credit.

(1) We would welcome additions to this list

�from THE SOCIAL CREDITER VOLUME 80 No.6 � December 2001

The good and the not so good...

The good news: British Columbia has the highest average personal wealth in Canada. The bad news: BC is also home to the largest gap between the richest and poorest households in the country. These figures emerge from special calculations done by Statistics Canada for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, which show deep and abiding inequalities in the distribution of wealth in all Canadian regions, but especially here in British Columbia. The contrast between haves and have-nots is just as shocking when family units in the province are split right down the middle. The poorer half of the population had wealth of $18.1 billion, or only 4.3% of the total wealth. The richer half had $405.3 billion, or 95.7% of the total. These findings also raise grave doubts about the priorities of the new BC government. The tax cuts will mainly benefit the wealthy, while cuts to government programs and services disproportionately hurt the poor. Combined, these policies will surely widen the income and wealth gaps.

(Excerpted: Steve Kerstetter-Dec.2001; www.policyalternatives.ca )