TEN YEARS after the collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the 2008 financial crash, campaigners are encouraging New Yorkers to rethink the economy and our relationship with money – by handing out free cash.
Campaigners from global networks the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) and Change Finance will hold signs saying “FREE MONEY” and distribute two one-dollar bills to anyone who wants them. The only stipulation is that people pass on half of the money to someone else.
This act of generosity in New York will be replicated across the world on the same day. Free Money Day campaigners will seek to highlight the problems with our current economic system, which has not changed for the benefit of ordinary people in ten years despite the dire warning of the 2008 crash.
By dishing out free cash, they hope to encourage people to rethink our collective relationship with money, and promote the idea of an economy based on sharing and collaboration.
“Free Money Day is an invitation for people to explore, in a liberating and fun way, what it might be like if our relationship to money was a little different”, said Diego Isabel, Strategy and Connections lead for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance.
“The 2008 crash was one of the clearest indicators we’ve had that the financial system is broken. Yet, global leaders did not take the opportunity ten years ago to transform the economy to the benefit of all: instead they entrenched the ‘business as usual’ approach”, Isabel continued.
“We’re asking people to imagine an economy that serves people and planet, that works for all of us. An economy that is based on sharing and collaboration.”
On behalf of Change Finance, Benoit Lallemand, Secretary General of Finance Watch, said: “We are facing urgent challenges: social, environmental, political. It all starts with freeing society from the grip of finance.”
“When planned effectively, the financial system has enormous potential to be a positive force. We need to reset the system,” Lallemand continued.
Donnie Maclurcan, Co-Founder of Free Money Day, added: “The hidden story of our current ‘economic boom’ is that debt has kept rising, because money keeps accumulating. We’re sleepwalking to collapse, with global debt having reached US$247 trillion. Free Money Day is a chance to remind people that debt is temporary when money constantly circulates.”