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Ideas for an Alternative Monetary Future

Alt-M

Ideas for an Alternative Monetary Future

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Recent

Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth

Larry White/December 4, 2018December 4, 2018 /3 Comments
Various proposals for “central bank digital currency” (CBDC) have been under discussion for several years now. The central bank of Ecuador launched a digital currency in 2015 -- and shut down the failed project three...
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monetary conference, unconventional monetary policy, Federal Reserve, Cato Institute

Monetary Policy Ten Years After the Crisis: A Conference Recap

Tyler Whirty/November 30, 2018December 1, 2018 /1 Comment

On Fiscally-Neutral Monetary Policy

George Selgin/November 27, 2018November 28, 2018 /9 Comments
scottish free banking, bank of england, Bank Restriction Act, specie, free banking

Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797-1821, Part 3

George Selgin/November 13, 2018November 14, 2018 /8 Comments
free banking, 100% reserve, public banks, economic history, friday flashback

Friday Flashback: The State and 100 Percent Reserve Banking

George Selgin/November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 /8 Comments

Money & Politics

On Fiscally-Neutral Monetary Policy

George Selgin/November 27, 2018November 28, 2018 /9 Comments
Of many interesting things said during Cato's 36th Monetary Conference, one in particular tempted me to rush to the podium to give its author...
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New York Fed, master account, TNB inc, narrow banking, ioer

The Skinny on The Narrow Bank

George Selgin/September 10, 2018September 12, 2018 /2 Comments
Euro, Eurozone, Italy, fiscal money, European Central Bank

Italy's Macroeconomic Problems Cannot Be Remedied By Issuing a Domestic Quasi-Money

Larry White/September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 /3 Comments
SWIFT, payment system, international payments

Europe's SWIFT Problem

JP Koning/August 24, 2018August 23, 2018 /1 Comment
gold standard, interwar gold standard, Great Depression, Great Recession, monetary policy

World War I, Gold, and the Great Depression

Hu McCulloch/August 23, 2018August 23, 2018 /9 Comments

The Fed & Central Banks

Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth

Larry White/December 4, 2018December 4, 2018 /3 Comments
Various proposals for “central bank digital currency” (CBDC) have been under discussion for several years now. The central bank of Ecuador launched a digital currency in 2015 -- and shut down the failed project three...
Continue reading
monetary conference, unconventional monetary policy, Federal Reserve, Cato Institute

Monetary Policy Ten Years After the Crisis: A Conference Recap

Tyler Whirty/November 30, 2018December 1, 2018 /1 Comment

On Fiscally-Neutral Monetary Policy

George Selgin/November 27, 2018November 28, 2018 /9 Comments

The Narrow Bank: A Follow-Up

George Selgin/September 14, 2018September 14, 2018 /2 Comments
New York Fed, master account, TNB inc, narrow banking, ioer

The Skinny on The Narrow Bank

George Selgin/September 10, 2018September 12, 2018 /2 Comments

Monetary Policy Primer

commodity money, monetary policy primer, federal reserve, fiat money, alternative monetary policy, monetary alternatives

A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 12: Monetary Alternatives

George Selgin/October 31, 2017November 1, 2017 /28 Comments
This primer is supposed to introduce readers to the workings of the present U.S. monetary system. So it's only natural that it should take established...
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lender of last resort, bank runs, panics, monetary primer

A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 11: Last-Resort Lending

George Selgin/August 8, 2017August 24, 2017 /16 Comments
monetary rules, discretionary monetary policy, time-inconsistency problem, stable spending, NGDP targeting

A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 10: Discretion, or a Rule?

George Selgin/May 11, 2017August 24, 2017 /10 Comments
Inflation Expectations, interest on reserves, interest rate targeting, natural rate of interest, QE

A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 9: Monetary Control, Now

George Selgin/January 10, 2017August 24, 2017 /30 Comments
asset bubbles, Great Recession, inflation targeting, monetary policy, NGDP targeting

A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 8: Money in the Latest Great Muddle

George Selgin/January 4, 2017August 24, 2017 /51 Comments

Financial Markets

monetary conference, unconventional monetary policy, Federal Reserve, Cato Institute

Monetary Policy Ten Years After the Crisis: A Conference Recap

Tyler Whirty/November 30, 2018December 1, 2018 /1 Comment
Founded by Cato’s vice president for monetary studies James A. Dorn in 1983, the Cato Institute’s Annual Monetary Conference has kept the monetary policy conversation alive in Washington, DC, for nearly four decades -- even...
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credit unions, financial innovation, fintech, decentralization, disintermediation

Disintermediation and Decentralization: A Familiar Tune for Credit Unions?

Diego Zuluaga/October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 /Leave a comment

The Narrow Bank: A Follow-Up

George Selgin/September 14, 2018September 14, 2018 /2 Comments
Federal Reserve, Jay Powell, Jackson Hole, monetary economics, nominal GDP, NGDP targeting

Powell's Jackson Hole Speech Should Give NGDP Advocates Optimism

Tate Lacey/August 29, 2018August 29, 2018 /2 Comments
SWIFT, payment system, international payments

Europe's SWIFT Problem

JP Koning/August 24, 2018August 23, 2018 /1 Comment

Fiat Money

Herbert Spencer, Private money, free banking, Alt-M Classics,

Alt-M classics: Herbert Spencer on Currency and Banking

Herbert Spencer/June 29, 2018June 29, 2018 /3 Comments
[I'm pleased to introduce with this entry a new  Alt-M series, consisting of occasional classic essays or excerpts from longer works concerning alternative monetary arrangements. As a fitting introduction to the series I've chosen the...
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private money, monetary history, private banknotes, bitcoin, financial stability.

Bitcoin: More Trustworthy than Some Academic Critics

Larry White/February 22, 2018March 26, 2018 /5 Comments
currency, money, war on cash, high denomination currency, black money

More Evidence of the High Collateral Damage of a War on Cash

Larry White/January 26, 2018January 26, 2018 /6 Comments
Bitcoin standard, gold standard, bitcoin, gold, synthetic commodity money

How a Bitcoin System is Like and Unlike a Gold Standard

Larry White/January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 /24 Comments
Milton Friedman, optimum quantity of money, interest on excess reserves, interest on reserves, monetary base

Optiquandary: A Practical Problem with Friedman’s “Optimum Quantity of Money”

Hu McCulloch/November 30, 2017December 3, 2017 /19 Comments

Digital Money

Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth

Larry White/December 4, 2018December 4, 2018 /3 Comments
Various proposals for “central bank digital currency” (CBDC) have been under discussion for several years now. The central bank of Ecuador launched a digital currency in 2015 -- and shut down the failed project three...
Continue reading
bitcoin, financial privacy, payments systems, private money, Satoshi Nakamoto

Bitcoin After 10 Years

Larry White/October 23, 2018October 23, 2018 /Leave a comment
Bitcoin, Bitcoin energy use, payments systems

Why Bitcoin is Not an Environmental Catastrophe

Diego Zuluaga/September 4, 2018September 6, 2018 /3 Comments
cryptocurrencies, cryptoassets, bitcoin, securities regulation, howey test, howey coin, sec, securities and exchange commission

Should Cryptocurrencies Be Regulated like Securities?

Diego Zuluaga/June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 /3 Comments
ecash, digital money, Federal Reserve, central banks, financial innovation

The Computer-Glitch Argument for Central Bank eCash

George Selgin/June 7, 2018June 7, 2018 /8 Comments

Commodity Money

cryptocurrency, sovereign cryptocurrency, Petro, Venezuela, blockchain

Venezuela's Petro: Fool's Oil

Diego Zuluaga/March 23, 2018March 22, 2018 /1 Comment
Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world. Crude exports earn the country 95 per cent of its foreign exchange. That figure used to be lower, but relentless nationalization and the government’s insistence on...
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Bitcoin standard, gold standard, bitcoin, gold, synthetic commodity money

How a Bitcoin System is Like and Unlike a Gold Standard

Larry White/January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 /24 Comments
wampum, colonial america, currency competition, thanksgiving, economic history, currency, inflation

Friday Flashback: Thanksgiving: A Celebration of American Currency Competition

Bradley Jansen/November 24, 2017November 24, 2017 /1 Comment
commodity money, monetary policy primer, federal reserve, fiat money, alternative monetary policy, monetary alternatives

A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 12: Monetary Alternatives

George Selgin/October 31, 2017November 1, 2017 /28 Comments
Blockchain Gold, bitcoin, gold, blockchain, ethereum, gold standard

Blockchain + Gold

Larry White/October 26, 2017October 26, 2017 /24 Comments

Free Banking

scottish free banking, bank of england, Bank Restriction Act, specie, free banking

Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797-1821, Part 3

George Selgin/November 13, 2018November 14, 2018 /8 Comments
Having considered, in two previous essays, the origins, legality, and adverse consequences of the Scottish bank suspension, we're now ready to ask whether, and in what ways, that episode compels us to reconsider the virtues...
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free banking, 100% reserve, public banks, economic history, friday flashback

Friday Flashback: The State and 100 Percent Reserve Banking

George Selgin/November 9, 2018November 9, 2018 /8 Comments
Scottish free banking, gold, specie, free banking, Scottish banking system

Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797-1821, Part 2

George Selgin/October 31, 2018October 31, 2018 /1 Comment
Walter Grinder, economics, Institute for Humane Studies

Friday Flashback: Walter Grinder Tributes

George Selgin/October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 /Leave a comment
free banking, Scottish free banking, banking regulation, Bank of England

Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797-1821, Part 1

George Selgin/October 9, 2018November 14, 2018 /4 Comments

Currency Boards

Bitcoin, Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, currency board, Tether

Dollar-Denominated Cryptocurrencies: Flops and Tethered Success

Larry White/April 6, 2017April 5, 2017 /20 Comments
A well-known obstacle to the greater popularity of Bitcoin as a medium of payment is the high volatility of its exchange value. This volatility results from its built-in quantity commitment: because the number of Bitcoins...
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A lot of data, and good-bye

Kurt Schuler/December 31, 2014December 19, 2015 /5 Comments

Why don't we have that for free banking?

Kurt Schuler/April 12, 2014December 19, 2015 /1 Comment

It was 20 years ago today…

Kurt Schuler/April 2, 2014December 19, 2015 /Leave a comment

Have we got your back?

Kurt Schuler/March 25, 2014December 19, 2015 /17 Comments

Inflation & Deflation

Federal Reserve, Donald Trump, monetary policy, fiscal policy, Fed independence

Donald Trump's Real Influence on Fed Policy

David Beckworth/August 15, 2018August 15, 2018 /5 Comments
A lot of ink was spilled last month over President Trump's criticism of the Fed raising interest rates. Observers worried that those criticisms meant the President was...
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NGDP target, nominal GDP, Federal Reserve, operating framework, price level target

Price Level Targeting: A Step in the Right Direction

Tate Lacey/June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 /5 Comments
great recession, financial crisis, fomc, federal reserve, interest rates, inflation targeting, NGDP targeting

Anniversary of a Fed Blunder

George Selgin/April 30, 2018April 30, 2018 /8 Comments
Bill Niskanen, dual mandate, lender of last resort, monetary policy, Phillips Curve

Bill Niskanen: Monetary Policy Radical

George Selgin/December 21, 2017January 21, 2018 /18 Comments
wampum, colonial america, currency competition, thanksgiving, economic history, currency, inflation

Friday Flashback: Thanksgiving: A Celebration of American Currency Competition

Bradley Jansen/November 24, 2017November 24, 2017 /1 Comment

Economic Thought

Walter Grinder, economics, Institute for Humane Studies

Friday Flashback: Walter Grinder Tributes

George Selgin/October 12, 2018October 12, 2018 /Leave a comment
(Today we celebrate the great Walter Grinder’s 80th birthday by reposting our tribute to him on his 75th.) Walter E. Grinder...
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New Release: Cato Journal Fall 2018 Edition

Tyler Whirty/September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 /Leave a comment
Fritz Machlup, fractional reserve banking, credit creation, bank credit, Alt-M Classics

Alt-M classics: Fritz Machlup on the Proper Limits of Bank Credit Expansion

Fritz Machlup/August 31, 2018August 31, 2018 /10 Comments
fractional reserve banking, reserve requirements, Austrian economics, business cycle theory, Federal Reserve

Fractional Reserve Banking and "Austrian" Business Cycles, Part III

George Selgin/August 28, 2018August 28, 2018 /12 Comments
Federal Reserve, monetary policy, fractional reserve banking, Austrian Business Cycle Theory

Fractional Reserve Banking and "Austrian" Business Cycles, Part II

George Selgin/August 21, 2018August 30, 2018 /14 Comments

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Contributors

  • George Selgin
  • Larry White
  • Kevin Dowd
  • James Dorn
  • Jeffrey Rogers Hummel
  • Tate Lacey
  • Hu McCulloch
  • Julien Noizet
  • Gerald O'Driscoll
  • Diego Zuluaga

Editors

  • George Selgin
  • Chuck Moulton
  • Bradley Jansen

Categories

  • Banking Regulation (44)
  • Booms & Busts (23)
  • Commodity Money (59)
  • Currency Boards (11)
  • Digital Money (74)
  • Economic History (136)
  • Economic Thought (135)
  • Events (40)
  • Fiat Money (54)
  • Financial Innovation (19)
  • Financial Markets (97)
  • Free Banking (196)
  • Inflation & Deflation (59)
  • Monetary Policy Primer (12)
  • Money & Politics (198)
  • News (103)
  • Recommended Reading (90)
  • The Fed & Central Banks (278)
  • Uncategorized (11)

Recent Posts

  • Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth
  • Monetary Policy Ten Years After the Crisis: A Conference Recap
  • On Fiscally-Neutral Monetary Policy
  • Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797-1821, Part 3
  • Friday Flashback: The State and 100 Percent Reserve Banking
  • Scottish Banks and the Bank Restriction, 1797-1821, Part 2
  • Bitcoin After 10 Years

Recent Comments

  • Matt Young on Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth
  • jandr0 on Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth
  • Ray Lopez on Central Bank Digital Currency Threatens Financial Privacy and Economic Growth
  • Rence Moxcir on Should Cryptocurrencies Be Regulated like Securities?
  • Mujangga . on A Monetary Policy Primer, Part 8: Money in the Latest Great Muddle

About Us

Welcome to Alt-M, a community devoted to exploring and promoting ideas for an alternative monetary future. Our goal is to reveal the shortcomings of today’s centralized, bureaucratic, and discretionary monetary arrangements, and to bring serious consideration of real alternatives to the center stage of current monetary and financial reform debates.

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