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A monetary policy solution to to the climate crisis : The Indicator from Planet Money What if we could engineer a path towards solving the climate crisis...with monetary policy? Kim Stanley Robinson's novel The Ministry for the Future considers this question, and the idea is catching on in real life too.

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The Indicator from Planet Money

The carbon coin: A novel idea

The carbon coin: A novel idea

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TOPSHOT - Delegates sit in the Action Zone as they attend the third day of the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow on November 3, 2021. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
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Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images
TOPSHOT - Delegates sit in the Action Zone as they attend the third day of the COP26 UN Climate Summit in Glasgow on November 3, 2021. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP) (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images

Kim Stanley Robinson's 2020 sci-fi novel The Ministry for the Future imagines a not-too-distant world where central banks worldwide come together to create a carbon coin, a monetary-policy-based solution to the climate crisis. The idea has been sparking real word debate in policy circles. What can a novel teach us about the role of central banks in addressing the climate crisis?

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For sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.