DOI kodi: 10.52340/ekonomisti.2026.02.05

Expanded Summary 

With the passage of time, individuals are becoming increasingly aware that the primary cause of economic crises is the existence of loan interest. Upon deeper analysis, it becomes evident that its root lies within human hearts, which have failed to resist the temptation of avarice. While avarice manifests in numerous ways, as the Old Testament prophets and the Holy Fathers of the Christian era asserted, usury is its most abhorrent form. This loan interest operates akin to a virus, causing the corrosion of both the human flesh and soul, as well as interpersonal relationships; it engenders deceit, violence, murder, and numerous severe crimes directed against humanity. Furthermore, it destroys both human nature and the human-made environment—that is, individual\\\'s home in the broadest sense of the word. The latter is termed economics, which in Greek signifies "house-building" or the art of "household management."

In the entire complex of economic life issues, the question of money occupies a pivotal place, as we live today under the conditions of a "monetary civilization." Philosophers, sociologists, theologians, and representatives of other humanities disciplines sometimes bypass the "technical aspects" of money and monetary circulation. However, as the saying goes, "the devil is in the details," and his earthly servants carefully guard his secrets related to the "subtleties" of monetary circulation. The devil (the prince of this world) fears light above all else, for light deprives him of his power over humanity. We shall attempt to shed light upon some of these "subtleties." This is an essential condition for halting the current foolish destruction of our house (the economy) and for transforming man into a wise "house-builder."

To comprehend the true nature of money requires not only intellect but also courage. It demands an honest and courageous perception of real life, which differs fundamentally from the "rosy" depictions that, unfortunately, comprise our textbooks on economics and money. Admittedly, some individuals fear the "dark" depictions describing the world of public finance. For a certain period, their "minds are opened": an abhorrent image of the cynicism prevailing in the financial world and the abyss toward which the human world is rushing unfolds before them. They are overcome by fear upon witnessing these "dark" depictions, and they hasten to return to the comfortable world of illusions.

A crisis is merely the exacerbation of a chronic illness with which society has suffered ever since Christian civilization began transforming into a "monetary civilization." This transformation occurred not through "natural evolution," but rather as a result of a "monetary revolution." Overcoming economic and financial crises is impossible without overcoming the bondage of loan interest and fundamentally changing the existing monetary system. 

Key Terms: Central Bank, Commercial Bank, Banknote, Money, Credit Money, Financial Pyramid, Interest, Usury, Inflation, Hyperinflation, Debt Economy, Free Money, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

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The most defining characteristic of the monetary system of mature capitalism is that all money has become credit-based. Credit money is the greatest invention of the usurers of the modern era. It enables bankers to create money "out of thin air," simultaneously forcing the entirety of society into a debt noose and exerting control over them. Such power was beyond the wildest dreams of medieval alchemists and even the most sophisticated despots. Indeed, this activity could more accurately be termed counterfeiting rather than "alchemy" - not on a small scale, but on a massive one. While lone craftsmen risk spending their entire lives behind bars for this, bankers can easily become members of parliament, ministers, or highly "respectable" individuals. Consequently, the extraordinary scale of this counterfeiting and the absolute immunity of its organizing usurers lead to an ever-greater portion of the total national wealth becoming concentrated in their hands.

Money is primarily issued by central banks (frequently referred to as banks of issue) in the form of banknotes. For the issuer (the bank), a banknote represents a liability, whereas for its holder, it represents a claim against the bank to settle its obligation. In the most general terms, a banknote can be defined as a banker\\\'s promissory note (bill of exchange). Originally, the fulfillment of obligations by central banks consisted of exchanging the banknote for gold that the bank held in its reserves. Today, banknotes are nowhere in the world convertible into gold; they have transformed into paper money unconvertible into gold. In spite of this, banknotes are classified as credit money because they are issued against the security of debt obligations of other entities (treasury bonds, commercial bills, currency); that is, their emission is inherently tied to the permanent growth of various types of debt within the economy. In other words, central banks hold a liability toward banknote holders (monetary liability), while central banks, in turn, hold claims against the entities that issued the debt obligations (financial liabilities) in the form of securities.

It should be stated at the outset that the dialectic of monetary and financial liabilities is such that, over time, the monetary liability of central banks has increasingly vanished. Today, the central bank no longer promises anything definite to banknote holders; no specific procedures are provided for exchanging banknotes for the central bank\\\'s assets, and a banknote holder can exchange them for particular assets only on the free market. The central bank is a critical link in the financial system of modern society, which possesses the form of a pyramid and consists of several tiers of liabilities.

It should be noted that the financial pyramid is inverted in shape. Each level represents a certain type of financial asset (financial instrument), with the amount of liabilities at a given level exceeding the amount of liabilities at the lower level. This implies that the issuance of liabilities by issuers exceeds the total sum of liabilities securing the given emission. Consequently, a partial backing of liabilities occurs, which creates the instability of the pyramid and the risk of its collapse. Thus, the central bank also makes its own "contribution" to the construction of financial pyramids and the provocation of financial crises.

Furthermore, money is issued by commercial banks that extend credits, and these credits are placed into the deposit accounts of the creditor bank and/or other banks. Consequently, this money is also referred to as deposit money. Inasmuch as they constitute records in accounts, and transactions involving such money (changes in the magnitude of liabilities and claims of the transaction participants) are likewise expressed in the form of records in accounts, they are also designated as non-cash money - as opposed to banknotes and exchangeable coins, which belong to the category of cash tokens. Although banknotes are exclusively considered legal tender, in real life, the major portion of the money supply nevertheless consists of deposit money. In this instance, the crucial factor for us is not the form of money, but rather that the creation of money by commercial banks leads to a permanent growth in the debt of both physical and legal entities.

In a "debt economy," virtually all money belongs to those who create it - that is, the usurers. If a certain amount of money is in the hands of individuals who do not belong to the caste of "usurers," this can be spoken of only in terms of use, rather than ownership. Within the framework of the modern monetary system, all money must, sooner or later, return to its true owner - the usurers. Economists employ money in the same manner as merchants use kilograms and architects use meters. Yet, they rarely analyze its principle of functioning; that is, they seldom attempt to explain and clarify that, unlike the meter and the kilogram, money does not constitute a constant unit of measurement, as it alters its value almost daily due to inflation (Kennedy, 1995).

The German money researcher Margrit Kennedy (1939–2013), in her work Interest and Inflation Free Money: Creating an Exchange Medium That Works for Everybody (1987), writes about bracteates: "From the 12th to the 15th century, a currency called bracteates was in circulation in Europe. They were issued by cities, bishoprics, and individual feudal lords. Moreover, they served not only for the exchange of goods and services but also functioned as a means of tax collection. The thin gold or silver money was \\\'demonetized\\\' once a year, meaning it was withdrawn from circulation and exchanged for newly minted coins. During this process, they were devalued by 25%, and this portion was retained as a \\\'minting fee\\\' or \\\'minting tax\\\'" (Kennedy, 1995).

Silvio Gesell (1862-1930) - a German entrepreneur, financial theorist, social reformer, and the author of the "Freiwirtschaft" (Free Economy) theory - was likewise a proponent of reviving medieval "bracteates" in a certain form. Gesell proposed the utilization of money with a negative interest rate in order to enhance the velocity of money circulation and to transform it into a medium of exchange rather than a means of accumulation. He designated this as "free money." Gesell essentially advocated that money should not be placed into bank deposits but should instead remain in circulation.

Gesell conducted an experiment with this type of money in the small Austrian town of Wörgl. Any money user who held a banknote at the end of the circulation period (one month) could reintroduce it into circulation only upon paying one percent of its face value. Gesell maintained that such an approach to money would prevent future depressions and enhance public welfare. Silvio Gesell’s principal work, The Natural Economic Order, was published in 1916.

Incidentally, the brilliant English economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) supported Silvio Gesell’s ideas and emphasized the influence of Gesell’s monetary theory on his own concepts in his work The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936). The English economist was inspired by Gesell’s idea of "free money," which, in his view, possessed the potential to change the world for the better. In this regard, Keynes stated: "I believe that the future will learn more from the spirit of Gesell than from that of Marx" (Keynes, 1967).

At the same time, "free money" has not been practically implemented anywhere to this day. In the majority of the world\\\'s countries, money continues to lose its purchasing power as a result of inflation, which no one is particularly intent on curbing. After all, inflation constitutes an unofficial form of taxation that is not entirely comprehensible to the ordinary citizen - a taxation whose beneficiary is not the state, but rather the "masters of money" who own the "money printing press."