The Next Octave Music and money share an immutable connection. Both systems, encoded with mathematical ratios of creative tension, have the power to produce both harmony and dissonance. Over the centuries, governing philosophies tempering both music and money have created two systems of fiat notes, the values of which have been noticeably distorted. Musical regulations temper our monetary system, while a correlating theory of systemic debt tempers musical pitch. At the center of this controversy sit two powerful philosophers: Plato and Bacon. Plato lured us in with encoded musical ratios built into the political structures of his city-states; can Bacon lead us out with a ciphered trail of breadcrumbs revealing the musical conspiracy of the tritone? If we read between Bacon’s lines, we find that tuning music and money with just intervals seems to hold the key to dismantling these debt-based systems and creating a more harmonious and economically sustainable world.
Halving It All In this fun romp through the western Milky Way, Violet Self teaches economic concepts with her trusty Manual at several moon-based re-education camps. But when the Earth is closed during a pandemic, she befriends a few of her former Earthling campers forced to stay on Violet’s home moon. Together they attempt to solve its vicious hyperinflation, while mitigating the physical effects of an economic vaccine that’s being secretly dosed out. Sir Riordan Vastly, the Manual’s overbearing author, and his constantly rhyming wife join Violet and her cat (Fred) in tracking down the real cause of the moon’s inflationary troubles, while the girls from Earth learn valuable economic lessons about the true nature of both capitalism and socialism. The playful scifi story melds Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) with Henry Hazlitt (Economics in One Lesson) in an effort to impart economic truths in a clever, entertaining way.
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