Academy Papers

Here you’ll find the Gradido Academy’s scientifically valid publications, available on Zenodo. If you’re looking for an overview first, it’s best to start with „Gradido at a Glance.“.

Getting Started

Gradido at a Glance

A brief introduction for anyone who wants to know what this is all about right away. In three pages, this text describes the problem that Gradido addresses, how it works, how it differs from familiar reform ideas—and what it promises and what it does not. Intended as an introduction before delving into the detailed studies.

Gradido at a Glance (German)

A monetary system modeled after nature

Gradido in Brief (English)

A Monetary System Modeled After Nature

Basics

An integral monetary and economic reform - the Gradido concept

This concept study formulates the Gradido model as an integrative response to four intertwined tensions of the present: the growth compulsion of the debt money system, the substitution of gainful employment by AI and robotics, the concentration of wealth and the transgression of planetary boundaries. At its core is a plus-sum mechanism in a new currency (Gradido, GDD): debt-free per capita money creation, mathematically complemented by a perishability (demurrage) of 50 % per year. Open research questions are explicitly stated; the study is an invitation to large-scale cooperation.

Concept study German

An integral monetary and economic reform - the Gradido concept

Concept Study English

An Integrative Monetary and Economic Reform - The Gradido Concept

The Orderly Transition from the Fiat System to the Gradido System — A Three-Part Study

This three-part study examines whether the transition from today’s debt-based monetary system to Gradido can be achieved in an orderly manner—voluntarily, without expropriation and without collapse, so that no one loses out. Debt forgiveness or bail-ins are replaced by a voluntary transformation offer: A claim is converted into a value-secured GDT credit (government debt) or an interest-free Gradido loan (private debt) — preserving wealth through asset transformation. Across its three parts, the study demonstrates that the entire financial layer—government, private, and reserve debt—can be transferred in an orderly manner as a positive-sum process, while the real economy carries over unchanged.

Part 1 German

National debt

Part 1 English

Sovereign Debt

Part 2 German

Personal debt

Part 2 English

Private Debt

Part 3 German

GDT as a Reserve Asset

Part 3 English

GDT as a Reserve Asset

Indentations

Differentiated peacebuilding - Gradido in the Senghaas hexagon

This working paper locates the gradido concept in Dieter Senghaas‘ (2004) civilizational hexagon - six mutually supporting conditions for sustainable peace. Based on the convergence of fifteen independent lines of connection from peace and cooperation research, it examines how a monetary and economic architecture can structurally shape peace. A comparison with seven other reform concepts shows: Gradido is the only one to address all six hexagon conditions. The methodological core is connectivity, not superiority - the paper sees itself as an invitation to convergence in peace research, reform economics and political practice.

Peace Paper German

Differentiated peacebuilding - Gradido in the Senghaas hexagon

Peace Paper English

Differentiated Peace Promotion - Gradido in the Senghaas Hexagon

The Evolution of Parity — How Locally Calibrated Gradidos Become Globally Equivalent

The Gradido is calibrated locally to purchasing power, yet is intended to be worth the same amount worldwide one day. How does this work? This working paper shows how global equivalence emerges from many locally calibrated Gradidos—through real appreciation, through “Colored Gradidos” as a buffer, and through a rule-based convergence factor, without exchange rates and with people as the basis of value. Parity is thus not imposed: it is the result of real convergence and, at the same time, highlights what remains to be resolved.

Parity Paper (German)

The Evolution of Parity — How Locally Calibrated Gradidos Become Globally Equivalent

Parity Paper (English)

Parity Grown, Not Decreed — How Locally Calibrated Gradidos Grow into a Worldwide Equivalence

Country Studies

The country studies apply the model to individual countries—as an invitation to participate in shaping the future, not as a blueprint.

Gradido as an Opportunity for Germany

Germany is one of the richest countries in the world, yet it is falling apart at the seams in several ways—between the rich and the poor, between shrinking and growing industries, and between what the government promises its citizens and what it is actually able to deliver. This country study asks whether these hardships share a common root in the way money is created, and what the Gradido could contribute to addressing them. It shows why Germany might be particularly receptive to such an approach, how a small beginning can take shape without official permission—and it openly identifies where the limits lie and what society and politics alone can decide.

Study on Germany (German)

Gradido as an Opportunity for Germany — An Invitation to Help Shape the Future

Germany: Study English

Gradido as a Possibility for Germany — An Invitation to Co-Create

Gradido as an Opportunity for Namibia

Namibia is a prosperous country in which most people do not share in that prosperity. It has not only discussed a basic income but also successfully piloted it in Otjivero in 2008–09—the challenge it faces is the question of financing. This is precisely where this country study comes in: It shows how the Gradido could contribute to the goals Namibia has set for itself—overcoming poverty and achieving food sovereignty—and calculates the scale of these efforts in a separate appendix. Its guiding principle is „by Africans for Africa.“.

Namibia Study (German)

Gradido as an Opportunity for Namibia — An Invitation to Help Shape the Future

Study English in Namibia

Gradido as a Possibility for Namibia — An Invitation to Co-Create

Further papers will follow.