Thomas H. Greco, Jr.

Thomas H. (Tom) Greco, Jr. (born 1936) is a community and monetary economist, writer and consultant and a leading researcher on the subject of free market alternative currency and monetary systems. [ [http://www.projects.ex.ac.uk/RDavies/arian/local.html Local and Interest-Free or Alternative Currencies, Social Credit, Social Lending and Microcredit] .] He is founder and director of the non-profit [http://circ2.home.mindspring.com/ Community Information Resource Center] which supports community improvement and sustainability efforts. British author David Boyle has called Thomas Greco a "pioneer" in the field of local currencies. [ [http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/local_currencies/Boyle2004.pdf David Boyle speech at the Local Currencies for the 21st Century conference, E. F. Schumacher Society] Bard College, New York, June 27, 2004] Greco’s writings are frequently cited by alternative currency advocates. [ A few examples of references to Thomas H. Greco, Jr. include: Bryn Meyer, [http://www.schumachersociety.org/pdfs/DemMoneypart5.pdf Democratic Money: The Case for a Decentralized Monetary System] , Chapter Five: The Case for Multiple Currencies; [http://www.lkwdpl.org/city/lakewooddollars/index.html Lakewood Dollars site] ; [http://www.sonoma.edu/users/w/warmotha/economiccrisiscommons.htm Economic Crisis of the Commons] , [http://www.skaggs-island.org/csd/CSD_multi-issuer_vers.htm the Sonoma County Self-reliance Project: Community Support Dollars (CSD)] ; [http://www.communitycurrency.org/jan98report.html Community Currency’s report on 1998 global economy gathering in Davos, Switzerland] .]

Life and Work

Greco graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Villanova University, acquired a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Rochester and did additional course work pursuant to a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at Syracuse University. For fourteen years he taught economics, finance, statistics, entrepreneurship, and forecasting as a faculty member in the college of business at Rochester Institute of Technology.

In 1979 Thomas Greco became a private consultant and community activist, working with local Rochester, New York peace and justice groups. From 1981 to 1990 he served as trustee and then president of the [http://www.schoolofliving.org/ School of Living] which promotes “decentralized, ecologically-sound, self-governed and humane communities.” A frequent contributor to the decentralist publication [http://www.ink.uk.com/fourth_world_review.htm Fourth World Review] , Greco organized of the Fourth World Assembly and New Economics Symposium held in San Francisco in 1987.

Since 1989 Thomas Greco has focused on studying, writing about, promoting and consulting on monetary exchange alternatives, including private credit clearing systems, complementary currencies and local currencies, including through his web site [http://reinventingmoney.com ReinventingMoney.Com] . Greco’s views especially have been influenced by the theories of E.C. Riegel in the compilation of his essays [http://www.newapproachtofreedom.info/ffi/index.html Flight from Inflation: The Monetary Alternative] and the [http://www.reinventingmoney.com/library.html German School of Money and Banking] (also known as the [http://www.reinventingmoney.com/documents/Johnsson.pdf German School of Monetary Freedom] ), including economists [http://www.reinventingmoney.com/documents/ritt-bio.html Heinrich Rittershausen] and [http://www.reinventingmoney.com/documents/ulrich.html Ulrich von Beckerath] , and attorney and author [http://www.walterzander.info/ Walter Zander]

After moving to Arizona, Greco assisted in the development of LETSonora (a Local Exchange Trading System) and helped organize Tucson Traders, both now defunct. He has advised groups like [http://www.currentinnovations.org/about/team.html Current Innovations] , [http://www.humanemp.org/background/who.shtml Alliance for Human Empowerment] and [http://www.macronet.org/airbase/support.html Macrocosm USA] . He has traveled widely promoting and assisting currency projects in the United States, Mexico and South America, Europe, India, Indonesia, China and New Zealand.

Greco was the keynote speaker at the 1998 conference on “Sustainability: From Vision to Practice,” held at [http://www.siriuscommunity.org/ Sirius Community] and was a forum leader for the 2001 [http://71.18.187.11/radicalweb/radicalconsultation/hansard/hansard5.pdf Radical Consultation Forum on Globalization, Money & Trade] held in Swindon, England. In 2006, he was a presenter at the conference on [http://www.auroville.org/economy/knowledge_business_and_consciousness_programme.htm Knowledge, Business and Consciousness] held at the international community of [http://www.auroville.org/ Auroville, India] ; the keynote speaker at the annual convention of the [http://www.irta.com/ International Reciprocal Trade Association] (IRTA), the trade association for the commercial "barter" industry; and a speaker atthe [http://www.smallisbeautiful.org/events/pre_conf.html E.F. Schumacher Society] "Money in Local Living Economies" forum in Burlington, Vermont. As reported at the [http://barternewsblog.com/2007/11/07/tom-grecos-asian-travels/ Barter News Blog] , in 2007 Greco was the featured speaker at forums in Beijing and Hang Zhou, China and one of the main speakers at [http://www.dinareconomy.com The International Conference On the Dinar Economy] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Thomas Greco has authored three books on monetary theory and how monetary alternatives can empower communities. He has published articles in many publications, including the Whole Earth Review, [http://www.worldbusiness.org/publications/ World Business Academy Perspectives] , [http://www.earthisland.org/ Earth Island Journal] , [http://www.yesmagazine.com/article.asp?ID=883 Yes! Magazine] , [http://www.schoolofliving.org/greenrev.htm Green Revolution] , [http://www.permacultureactivist.net/ The Permaculture Activist] .

=Approach to Alternative Currencies=

Greco writes on [http://reinventingmoney.com ReinventingMoney.Com] :

The mission of this site is to demystify money by presenting the best leading-edge ideas on monetary and non-monetary exchange. It is a resource devoted to the advancement of economic democracy, self-determination, and global harmony.

He holds that:

The primary lever of power in today's world is the overly centralized, monopolistic control over money, banking, and finance. Money constitutes the greatest and most acute current problem, while being at once the structural domain that is most ready for a transformational shift. It is clear that the best and most promising approaches to liberating economic exchange are in the realm of private, voluntary, free-market initiatives... [ [http://www.reinventingmoney.com/documents/background.html ReinventingMoney.Com background information] ]

In a review of Greco’s "Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender", Brian Leslie writes:

Greco is more concerned with the details of current and potential alternative currencies, devoting much of his book to descriptions of current examples and a selection of past ones, their strengths and weaknesses, and theoretical possibilities and recommendations for future systems, several of which are his own proposals. He notes that alternative currencies start and are most successful at times (and in places) when the failings of official money are having the greatest impact, and mostly discontinue when conditions improve. [Brian Leslie, [http://www.feasta.org/documents/review2/money.htm Participatory democracy is good for you] , review of Thomas H. Greco, Jr. and Bernard Lietaer books on money] .]

Bibliography

* " [http://www.chelseagreen.com/bookstore/item/money:paperback Money: Understanding and Creating Alternatives to Legal Tender, PDF] ", Chelsea Green Publishers, 2001.
* " [http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/cc/NMfHC/ New Money for Healthy Communities] ", self-published, 1994.
* " [http://circ2.home.mindspring.com/money_and_debt.htm Money and Debt: A Solution to the Global Crisis] ", self-published, 1990.

References

* Biographies at [http://reinventingmoney.com/documents/RESUME%20Prof%202007-08-05.pdf ReinventingMoney.Com (PDF)] and [http://circ2.home.mindspring.com/tgbro.htm Community Information Resource Center (PDF)] .
* Responses to queries by

External links

Professor Brian Martin, [http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/94BRgl3.html Review of “New Money for Healthy Communities”] .
* [http://globalpublicmedia.com/economist_tom_greco_on_reinventing_money Audio presentation by Thomas H. Greco, Jr. on reinventing money] , [http://GlobalPublicMedia.Com GlobalPublicMedia,Com] , May 29, 2007.

Thomas H. Greco, Jr., [http://www.gdrc.org/icm/greco/improve.html Improving Local Currencies, or How To Make a Good Thing Better] , [http://www.gdrc.org Global Development Research Center] .
* [http://beyondmoney.wordpress.com/ Beyond Money] , Thomas H. Greco, Jr.’s alternative currency blog.

ee also

* Credit Money
* Commodity money
* Digital cash
* Electronic money
* Economic Democracy
* Local currency
* Money
* Private bank
* Private currency