Using Money

The modern money society tells us that having money is the way to wealth and happiness. By contrast, the Hamburg institute for financial services (iff) has been conducting its research and general activities over the past 20 years based on the opposite thesis that money is in fact a dangerous medium with which to manage ones wealth. In order to enable our modern society to use this medium in a sensible way and ensure that the allocation of capital and work is done in a sustainable fashion, it is imperative for research and develop¬ment, public opinion and law to be involved. With the financial services they provide, banks can either promote egoism and greed-like behaviour or, through nudging by society itself, can encourage more cooperation, responsibility and balance in the society.
“Using money sensibly” – the annual newsletters of the iff reflect this philosophy. One which is able to distinguish between a fair competitive environment and free-competition, able to stimulate the actual creditworthiness of the lenders themselves, able to help understand bank safety as being when an individual is safe from and with its bank, and one which is able to be a source of stimulation and discussion for all those professionals and passionate persons either working in the field or affected by its subject matter. The newsletters also provide a documentation of 20 years of an institute"s work serving the interest of consumers and the general public, constituting along the way a small history book of scandals and successes in the financial sectors of Germany and Europe, which tell the journey through saving, investment and speculation and the significant burden of over-indebtedness for our modern credit society.