Ole Bjerg

At the crossroads of philosophy and economy, Ole Bjerg challenges a given in our society: MONEY. By asking the question where does money come from?, Ole breaks common preconceptions about money, and, consequently, invites you to rethink growth, debt, banks, and the State.

When asked who creates money?, the common response would be that the State creates money because the State is responsible for making bank notes. However, in Ole’s philosophical quest to understand what is money?, he found that it is a misconception.

According to Ole, most of today’s money is not created by the State, but by private commercial banks when they extend loans. This privatisation of the production of money has gone largely unnoticed, even though it has major implications for today’s economy.

As Ole is not an economist, he is also fighting against the preconceived idea that the creation of money is a concept too complex to grasp. He believes that people are capable of understanding money and are affected by money whether they are rich or poor. In addition, he demonstrates that money is an historical and evolving phenomenon: it has changed in the past and it will change in the future.

- We are in a period of monetary shift. There is an opportunity for the state to reclaim the monopoly of money creation.

When asked what people should get out of his talk, Ole said that people should feel angry, enlightened and empowered. Ole will unravel more on this novel idea during his talk on TEDxCopenhagen’s 2016 Main Event, join us on April 7 and see for yourself.

- By Jasmine Crozier

About the speaker

Ole Bjerg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School. After his book, Making Money – The Philosophy of Post-Credit Capitalism, Ole published Parallax of Growth – The Philosophy of Ecology and Economy. He also co-founded Gode Penge, an initiative for the democratization of the monetary system.