How to prepare for economic armageddon

 By gingerbeardman

David Cameron says his government is preparing for the worst. Commentators are discussing events in terms of ‘economic armageddon’.  

Despite the welcome resignation of Silvio Berlusconi, things are still on a knife edge.

The great Tom Lehrer used to say that, if you want any songs to come out of Armageddon, then we’d better start writing them now. The same goes for preparations for economic meltdown.

The trouble is, these are being prepared very quietly in the Treasury, an institution dedicated to the idea that, actually, there is no alternative.

nef has suggested before, many times over, what governments ought to be doing now. But what if the worst happens? What if the eurozone collapses, the massive debts come home to roost, there is a stock market crash and the population of these islands are suddenly left without a realistic means of exchange?

This is what our own government must do within the first 24 hours:

1. Create the money to pay off unrepayable euro debts in UK banks.
2. In return for this second rescue, force the big banks to head up partnerships – let’s say in five UK cities each – that would see them funnel money into existing and new community banking structures, supporting BizFizz-style enterprise coaching and mutual support to launch start-up businesses.
3. Allow local authorities to launch their own barter currencies, and allow them to accept these and other local money in lieu of rent, council tax and other payments – and to pay a proportion of staff salaries in this way.
4. Require local authorities to provide emergency allotments around housing estates and on other patches of wasted grass. Take steps to guarantee affordable energy supplies for homes.

What else needs to happen so that we can feed people even though the delivery systems are creaking and the energy supplies are unravelling? What else do we need to do so that we can use our own resources to keep civilised life going?

Don’t let’s wait for the Treasury to work it out. Let’s get a plan now.