From Chris Cook, 4th March 2009. Edited from Feasta Forum posting 1st March 2009
I propose to extend the WIR concept from B2B to B2C. The “framework of trust” for the WIR comes from a legal charge over the assets and undertaking of WIR members, to which Bernard refers. I am taking a different approach in order to assimilate individuals and to allow them to receive interest-free (but not cost free) credit from businesses generally.
As I set out here http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisJCook/petro-clearing-january-2009-farsi-4-presentation
in Iran a month ago I proposed a framework of trust consisting of a consensual agreement I call a “Guarantee Society”.
Since both sellers and buyers on P2P credit terms benefit from the mutual guarantee they both make a provision into a “Default Pool” in mutual/common ownership. The outcome is an exact analogy to Keynes’ Gesellian proposal for his Bancor/ International Clearing Union proposal at Bretton Woods where both holders of debit AND credit balances are charged, and the system may be stable.
The difference from the Bancor etc is that in a P2P “Credit Clearing Union” architecture there is no centralised “issuer” of credit. The sources of credit will be:
(a) Individuals and businesses (multiple individuals) – backed by their “labour” (ie unqualified labour/ calorific value); “intellectual capital” (as I refer to the accumulated knowledge and experience, and inherent talents and sheer gumption” we all have while we live); and by the use value of “Intellectual Property” (objectified knowledge in private ownership);
(b) Land in common ownership and private use – through the “unitisation” I believe will (must – there is no workable alternative) replace mortgage-backed loans ;
(c) Renewable energy in common ownership and private use – where I believe that the use of unitisation of energy, and of what I call a “Petro” Energy standard could become the benchmark for global trade – and to which end I am working in Iran, as you see.
The key, as Bernard Lietaer says, is to utilise the capabilities of IT, and I would say that the P2P phenomenon demonstrates how this is capable of spreading “virally. I have no doubt that P2P Credit and P2P Investment can and will spread virally because the “value proposition” wipes the floor with the conventional model.
