How do we hold economists to account when we don’t understand what they are talking about?
That’s the concern of author Diana Finch, from Kingswood, who has written a book that aims to help give us the knowledge we need to challenge the way money functions in our society.
Diana does this through the story of the Bristol Pound, a short-lived but important local currency system.
Her book is called Value Beyond Money: An Exploration of The Bristol Pound and The Building Blocks for An Alternative Economic System.
Diana is well placed to tell this story, having been the managing director of the currency project, envisaged as a way of keeping money generated in the city within Bristol, in its later years.
The Bristol Pound began in 2012 in a wave of enthusiasm. It was the largest local currency to operate in the UK. It was the first local currency that could be used to pay local taxes, and was the first to have both digital and paper forms from its inception.
But as more people switched to paying for goods via smartphones, use of the currency declined and it closed in 2021.
But Diana says this does not mean the Bristol Pound was a complete failure; she believes we can learn from it.
“It was always a limited experiment. We couldn’t make it a viable system in its own right. But one of its aims was to help us think differently about money, our role as consumers and purchasers.
“We have to make economics more accessible. If people do not understand the arcane language and knowledge of finance and markets, they cannot question it and that is very dangerous. We need to encourage people to think more critically about the economic system – what is its purpose, is it delivering against that purpose, and how do we stretch the resources of Planet Earth to meet the needs of its people?”
Diana, who has had a number of roles in the charity sector and is currently a director of Bristol Food Network, is keen to talk to local groups about the ideas in her book. She can be contacted at hello@bristolpoundlegacy.info
The book has been published by Arkbound in Bristol and is available online and at Waterstones in Bristol.