This paper assesses the proposal to transform the monetary system into an Ecology of money, that is, into a system made of a large diversity of complementary currencies. Its central aim is to examine whether this proposal could provide a systemic solution to both the ecological and financial crises, as several authors, most notably Lietaer and Douthwaite, have argued. To this end, it analyses the two main arguments in favour of this proposal. First, it focuses on the claim that an Ecology of money would be more resilient and less prone to crisis than the present monetary system. It shows that this argument suffers from several conceptual flaws and argues that it fails to provide sufficient normative reasons to favour an Ecology of money. Second, this paper analyses the claim that an Ecology of money could help defeat the monetary growth imperative that supposedly plagues our economies. The paper raises serious doubts about the existence of such an imperative and questions the claim that an Ecology of money could contribute to weaken it in a significant way.

中文翻译：

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货币生态：批判性评估


本文评估了将货币体系转变为货币生态的提议，即转变为由多种互补货币组成的体系。正如几位作者，尤其是利塔尔和杜思韦特所认为的那样，其核心目标是研究该提案是否能为生态危机和金融危机提供系统性解决方案。为此，它分析了支持该提案的两个主要论点。首先，它的重点是货币生态比现有的货币体系更有弹性，更不容易发生危机。它表明这一论点存在几个概念缺陷，并认为它未能提供足够的规范理由来支持货币生态学。其次，本文分析了货币生态学可以帮助击败据称困扰我们经济的货币增长必要性的主张。该论文对这种必要性的存在提出了严重怀疑，并质疑货币生态可能会在很大程度上削弱这种必要性的说法。