David Boyle

David Boyle was the author of a range of books about history, social change, politics and the future.  He was editor of a number of publications including Town & Country Planning, Community Network, New Economics, Liberal Democrat News and Radical Economics. He was co-director of the think tank New Weather Institute, policy director of Radix, an advisory council member of the Schumacher Centre for New Economics, and a fellow at the New Economics Foundation.

He was the author of a number of books about history, social change and the history of ideas and the future, notably Tickbox  (Little, Brown, 2020).  His book Authenticity: Brands, Fakes, Spin and the Lust for Real Life (Flamingo, 2003) helped put the search for authenticity on the agenda as a social phenomenon. Funny Money: In search of alternative cash (Flamingo, 1999) launched the time banks movement in the UK. His work on the history and future of money has also been covered in books and pamphlets like Why London Needs its own Currency (2000), Virtual Currencies (2000), The Money Changers: Currency reform from Aristotle to e-cash  2002), The Little Money Book (2003) and Money Matters (2009).

David had been at the heart of the effort to develop co-production and introduce time banks to Britain as a critical element of public service reform. He was the government’s independent reviewer on Barriers to Public Service Choice (2012-13). He stood for Parliament, and was for twelve years a member of the federal policy committee of the Liberal Democrats.

In 2023, the Schumacher Center commissioned David to author a refreshed study guide to mark the 50th anniversary of the publication of Small is Beautiful.

David Boyle passed away in June 2025.