Towards the Common Good
Reorienting the Monetary and Financial System
28th September - 30th November 2026
Online
Money will shape our future. The question is: who decides – and for what purpose?
Money shapes almost every aspect of our lives, yet the systems that govern it remain among the least democratic, least transparent, and most resistant to change. From deepening inequality and ecological breakdown to recurring financial crises, today’s monetary and financial system is not neutral infrastructure: it actively determines what—and who—thrives.
This bold and timely short course at Schumacher College invites you to rethink money itself.
Guided by internationally renowned economist and founder of the Economy for the Common Good movement, Christian Felber, the course offers a radical yet practical reorientation of finance: from a self-serving system driven by speculative markets to a public infrastructure designed to serve people, planet, and future generations.
At its heart lies a powerful paradigm shift: money as a public good. When money is understood not as a commodity but as shared infrastructure, new democratic possibilities open up, allowing finance to become a tool for social justice, ecological regeneration, and genuine prosperity.
What this course offers
Over nine weekly modules, participants will engage deeply with the structural roots of today’s financial crises while exploring concrete, actionable alternatives already emerging around the world. The course combines systemic analysis, ethical reflection, and visionary policy thinking—without requiring prior expertise in economics or finance.
You will explore:
· Why the ideology of “efficient markets” has made the financial system politically untouchable—and how this can change
· How central banks could be democratised, drawing on ideas such as Monetary Democracy, Positive Money, and Modern Monetary Theory
· The role of ethical banks, regional finance, and common good–oriented stock markets
· How to close the global financial casino and redirect capital towards real-life, life-serving projects
· Why limits to inequality are as essential as planetary boundaries
· How international tax cooperation can end secrecy and close tax havens
· What global monetary cooperation could look like, revisiting Keynes’ Bancor and ICU proposals
· How ethical world trade could underpin a post-colonial, post-capitalist economic order
Course Structure
The course runs every Monday from 1 June to 27 July 2026, across nine live online sessions, each building toward a coherent vision of an economy oriented toward the common good:
From the broader foundations of a Common Good economy, through monetary reform and global cooperation, to the international dimensions of ethical trade, participants will leave with both clarity and courage, able to articulate why change is necessary and how it might be realised.
Why Join This Course
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Cost: £ xxx
Facilitator
Christian Felber
Christian Felber is a writer, university lecturer and contemporary dancer in Vienna. He is the initiator of the “Economy for the Common Good“ and the “Cooperative for the Common Good“. Several bestsellers include “Change everything. Creating an Economy for the Common Good“ and “Money. The new rules of the game“, which was awarded the getAbstract International Book Award 2014. The “Economy for the Common Good” received the ZEIT-Wissen Award in 2017 and made it 2021 to the SPIEGEL bestseller list.
Frequently Asked Questions
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This course is for activists, policymakers, educators, economists, social entrepreneurs, and anyone who senses that something is deeply wrong with the current system—and that something better is possible. If you want to move beyond critique and engage with credible, transformative alternatives, this is a rare opportunity to learn directly from one of Europe’s leading voices in economic system change.
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What Participants Say…
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