Page 6 - Reflexions of African Bishops and Priests

)

body, the National Credit Office. In order to understand the feasibility of the
The National Credit Office registers the statis- monetary system advocated by Social Credit, one
tics of production and consumption and acts ac- must not lose sight of the fact that the world has
cording to facts in issuing money so that all of pro- entered into an era of abundance; that, if there
duction might be sold, if it answers true needs. The are poor people, it is not because of the rich and
NCO enjoys all the powers it needs to attain this wealthy, but because abundance is not distributed.
end. It answers to the nation. There is no need to take away from the rich in or-
The technique set forth to reach the two ends der to give to the poor; we simply need to instill
technology into the monetary system. We cannot
of Social Credit — equilibrium between prices and be contented by saying that money is made for
purchasing power, and the doing away with pov- man. We need to establish a system that truly puts
erty —consists in distributing new money using money at the service of man, of all men. v
two methods: the compensated discount and the
dividend. Louis Even
The compensated discount

The compensated discount’s goal is aimed
at making prices and purchasing power equal to
one another. Money would be created and distrib-
uted without creating inflation. The money from
the compensated discount finances a reduction of
prices in favour of the consumer.
If the available production is $12 billion and
the purchasing power in front of it adds up only
to $9 billion, the National Credit Office decrees a
25 percent reduction on all prices, a discount on
all products at the time they are sold to the con-
sumer. This serves to reduce prices to the level
of purchasing power. The discount is compensat-
ed to the retailer, that is to say, the Credit Office
gives him the money he lost when he granted his
customers a discount. This money is created by
the Credit Office the exact same way that banks
create money today. This new money favours the
consumer, provided he buys something; it goes
to the retailer provided the sale was made. This
is money which allows production to be sold by
lowering prices. This satisfies everyone: the buyer,
the retailer and the producer who is only too glad
to sell his products.
The national dividend

The national dividend, as its name implies, is
the distribution of a dividend, of a sum of money
representing a surplus or the revenue from a cap-
ital, to all members of society — therefore to each
man, woman and child in Canada.
This dividend is based on the existence of the
cultural heritage, or social capital which belongs to
everyone, capital consisting of the discoveries and
inventions of science. The part this capital plays
in production is increasing, while the part played
by human labour is decreasing. Labour needs to
be rewarded, but so does capital, even social cap-
ital. We are all heirs of generations past, all capital- A statue in front of our headquarters in Rougemont:
ists, and everyone has a right to a dividend large Homage to Louis Even, great benefactor of mankind
enough to shield himself from poverty. (1885-1974), founder of “Michael”

5
6 www.michaeljournal.org