Michael Ende's Testament - Background on Local Money

Michael Ende, the author of "Momo," is said to be a writer who has simultaneously asked fundamental questions about money. In May 1999, his arguments about money were aired on NHK Telepi as "Ende's Testament. Around the time of that broadcast, several "eco-money" schemes were created in various parts of Japan, and a trend of money reform is taking place. Ende's argument is that "the key point is that money as the purchase price of bread at a bakery, for example, and money as capital on a stock exchange (by capital on a stock exchange, we assume he means trading stocks and other securities for investment or speculative purposes) are two completely different things. Money as money and capital on a stock exchange (capital on a stock exchange is supposed to mean buying and selling stocks and other securities for investment or speculative purposes) are two very different kinds of money, according to J (excerpt from Ende's Testament: NHK Publishing).

He goes on to say, "More than 95% of the money moving around the world today does not correspond to actual transactions of goods and services in the economy (buying bread in a bakery). Today, the amount of money traded in the international exchange markets (i.e., capital handled on the stock exchanges) on a daily basis is said to be as much as $1.5 trillion or as little as $2 trillion. This is a daily amount; in a year it is an unbelievable amount. Ninety-five percent of this money is used in mere financial transactions that have no real economic connection. It's all about money making money, and speculation and seeking out those kinds of investments," he says.

As a result, despite the fact that "these international flows have repeatedly caused problems, as evidenced by the financial crises in Asia, Russia, and Latin America," money is concentrated and unevenly distributed, and the "abundance in the North and poverty in the South" continue to worsen, not improve. Incidentally, money, not nations, is the ultimate victor in the currency wars waged between international speculative hedge funds (such as George Soros' Quantum Fund) and Asian nations over a 2.5-month period beginning in May 1997. The impact was felt in Thailand, Latvia, and the Asian countries that followed, as well as in Russia and Latin America. And even now, the scars have not been repaired.

The reason why this is happening is that money is power itself in real life, but there is a big difference in the destination of that power. In other words, there is a difference in value between 200 yen to buy a loaf of bread and 2 million yen to invest in stocks. In this case, the difference in value is the difference in the power of money, but it is the same power. In real life, however, the power of money is exactly the same, but one acts as food for living, and the other acts as money invested in stocks without which we can live. Let's call it money by force, shall we? In this way, it becomes difficult to understand that these two are in the same world with the same standard of value just because they have a common measure of money. This is because man cannot live without bread, but he can live without investing in stocks. Money is unevenly distributed, concentrated, and Ende calls it "the very nature of current money is problematic. He warns us that "money has already played its role, and it may be more powerful than it is now, reigning over people.

Ende warns us: "I think, once again, that the present money is the only one that can be used for the good of the people. I think that we should once again position money as a value that corresponds to the work or thing actually done.