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Ideas for an Alternative Monetary Future

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Ideas for an Alternative Monetary Future

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FDR and the value of the dollar.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold

George Selgin/August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 /5 Comments
"In 1934, the government price of gold was increased to $35 per ounce, effectively increasing the gold on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheets by 69 percent. This increase in assets allowed the Federal Reserve to...
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The steps forward

Dollarization for Lebanon

Larry White/July 30, 2020July 29, 2020 /1 Comment
FDRs fireside chat.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 6: The National Bank Holiday

George Selgin/July 28, 2020August 10, 2020 /2 Comments

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 5: The Banking Crisis

George Selgin/July 18, 2020August 7, 2020 /10 Comments

Fed's Intervention in Corporate Credit: A Risky Venture

James Dorn/July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 /2 Comments

Money & Politics

FDR and the value of the dollar.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold

George Selgin/August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 /5 Comments
"In 1934, the government price of gold was increased to $35 per ounce, effectively increasing the gold on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheets by 69 percent. This increase in assets allowed the Federal Reserve to...
Continue reading
The steps forward

Dollarization for Lebanon

Larry White/July 30, 2020July 29, 2020 /1 Comment
FDRs fireside chat.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 6: The National Bank Holiday

George Selgin/July 28, 2020August 10, 2020 /2 Comments

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 5: The Banking Crisis

George Selgin/July 18, 2020August 7, 2020 /10 Comments

Fed's Intervention in Corporate Credit: A Risky Venture

James Dorn/July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 /2 Comments

The Fed & Central Banks

FDR and the value of the dollar.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold

George Selgin/August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 /5 Comments
"In 1934, the government price of gold was increased to $35 per ounce, effectively increasing the gold on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheets by 69 percent. This increase in assets allowed the Federal Reserve to...
Continue reading
FDRs fireside chat.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 6: The National Bank Holiday

George Selgin/July 28, 2020August 10, 2020 /2 Comments

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 5: The Banking Crisis

George Selgin/July 18, 2020August 7, 2020 /10 Comments

Fed's Intervention in Corporate Credit: A Risky Venture

James Dorn/July 13, 2020July 13, 2020 /2 Comments

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 4: FDR's Fed

George Selgin/July 6, 2020August 7, 2020 /Leave a comment

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, 2017February 28, 2019 /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, 2017February 28, 2019 /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, 2017February 28, 2019 /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, 2017February 28, 2019 /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, 2017February 28, 2019 /51 Comments

Financial Markets

Paycheck Protection Program: Who Lent to Whom, and Where?

Diego Zuluaga/June 18, 2020June 18, 2020 /1 Comment
It’s been 11 weeks since Congress passed the CARES Act, which, among its many other provisions, established the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Nearly three-quarters of U.S. small businesses have so far availed themselves of this...
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Opening the market to new possibilities for investors.

Let Investors Decide, Part II

Jennifer Schulp/June 10, 2020June 29, 2020 /Leave a comment
Consumers should be free to choose their bank,.

To Help the Unbanked, Break the Industrial Bank Taboo

Diego Zuluaga/June 5, 2020June 4, 2020 /1 Comment
Investors are being locked out by the SEC

Let Investors Decide, Part 1

Jennifer Schulp/June 1, 2020June 29, 2020 /1 Comment
Taking a closer look at some suspicious statistics.

FinCEN's Suspicious Statistics

Diego Zuluaga/May 22, 2020May 21, 2020 /Leave a comment

Fiat Money

The steps forward

Dollarization for Lebanon

Larry White/July 30, 2020July 29, 2020 /1 Comment
“The Lights Go Out in Lebanon as Financial Collapse Accelerates,” declared a recent headline in The Washington Post. The headline refers specifically to worsening power outages but more generally to Lebanon’s ongoing “economic implosion.” This...
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Where have all the coins gone?

Where Have All the Coins Gone?

Will Luther/July 10, 2020July 10, 2020 /13 Comments
Vice Chair Clarida holds the Cato Journal

Fed Policy: A Shadow Review—New Issue of the Cato Journal

Amanda Griffiths/June 20, 2020June 19, 2020 /Leave a comment
Should the U.S. government create a digital dollar?

Should the U.S. Government Create a Token-Based Digital Dollar?

Larry White/June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 /1 Comment
A budget in chains.

The Constitutional Case for the Fed's Treasury Backstops

George Selgin/April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 /Leave a comment

Digital Money

Should the U.S. government create a digital dollar?

Should the U.S. Government Create a Token-Based Digital Dollar?

Larry White/June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 /1 Comment
Proposals for “central bank digital currency” (CBDC) come in two basic types: account-based and token-based. I have been critical of proposals for an account-based system. Until recently, there didn’t seem to be much active interest...
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Libra has another shot.

Libra's Star May Rise Again

Diego Zuluaga/April 16, 2020 /1 Comment
SEC, regulation, finreg, crypto, cryptocurrency

The Peirce Safe Harbor Could Be Transformative

Diego Zuluaga/February 12, 2020March 12, 2020 /Leave a comment
gold, bimetallism, silver, gold standard, bitcoin

Robert Shiller on Bitcoin and Bimetallism

Larry White/February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 /2 Comments
fed independence, alternative currencies, fed, federal reserve, cato monetary conference

Inside Cato's 37th Annual Monetary Conference: A Shadow Review of Fed Policy

Amanda Griffiths/December 19, 2019January 2, 2020 /1 Comment

Commodity Money

FDR and the value of the dollar.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold

George Selgin/August 7, 2020August 7, 2020 /5 Comments
"In 1934, the government price of gold was increased to $35 per ounce, effectively increasing the gold on the Federal Reserve’s balance sheets by 69 percent. This increase in assets allowed the Federal Reserve to...
Continue reading
Where have all the coins gone?

Where Have All the Coins Gone?

Will Luther/July 10, 2020July 10, 2020 /13 Comments
Vice Chair Clarida holds the Cato Journal

Fed Policy: A Shadow Review—New Issue of the Cato Journal

Amanda Griffiths/June 20, 2020June 19, 2020 /Leave a comment
Should the U.S. government create a digital dollar?

Should the U.S. Government Create a Token-Based Digital Dollar?

Larry White/June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 /1 Comment

The Classical Gold Standard Can Inform Monetary Policy

James Dorn/March 4, 2020March 3, 2020 /8 Comments

Free Banking

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 5: The Banking Crisis

George Selgin/July 18, 2020August 7, 2020 /10 Comments
Today, when we speak of ways to fight recessions, two options inevitably take pride of place: expansionary Fed policy (meaning lower interest rates or more asset purchases or both) and expansionary fiscal policy (more government...
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In Memoriam R.H.T.

George Selgin/May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 /7 Comments

Friday Flashback: Fedophilia

George Selgin/January 17, 2020February 14, 2020 /17 Comments
fed independence, alternative currencies, fed, federal reserve, cato monetary conference

Inside Cato's 37th Annual Monetary Conference: A Shadow Review of Fed Policy

Amanda Griffiths/December 19, 2019January 2, 2020 /1 Comment
mmt, banking regulation, bank run, bank failure, regulation, free banking

Warren Mosler and the Great American Banking Myth

George Selgin/December 3, 2019January 2, 2020 /38 Comments

Currency Boards

The steps forward

Dollarization for Lebanon

Larry White/July 30, 2020July 29, 2020 /1 Comment
“The Lights Go Out in Lebanon as Financial Collapse Accelerates,” declared a recent headline in The Washington Post. The headline refers specifically to worsening power outages but more generally to Lebanon’s ongoing “economic implosion.” This...
Continue reading
Vice Chair Clarida holds the Cato Journal

Fed Policy: A Shadow Review—New Issue of the Cato Journal

Amanda Griffiths/June 20, 2020June 19, 2020 /Leave a comment
Main street open for business.

When the Fed Tried to Save Main Street

George Selgin/March 30, 2020April 6, 2020 /1 Comment
currency board fiscal policy helicopter money Hong Kong monetary policy

Handouts, Helicopters, Hong Kong Dollars, and Hogwash

George Selgin/February 26, 2020March 3, 2020 /18 Comments
fed independence, alternative currencies, fed, federal reserve, cato monetary conference

Inside Cato's 37th Annual Monetary Conference: A Shadow Review of Fed Policy

Amanda Griffiths/December 19, 2019January 2, 2020 /1 Comment

Inflation & Deflation

That New Deal fiscal policy contributed little to recovery from the Great Depression, and probably contributed to the setback of 1937-8.

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 3: The Fiscal Stimulus Myth

George Selgin/June 29, 2020August 7, 2020 /12 Comments
"[The COVID-19 crisis] wouldn't be the first time America has resorted to large-scale fiscal stimulus in a peacetime emergency. The New Deal of the 1930s, a response to the Great Depression, is probably the most...
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The boy who cried wolf.

Return of the Inflation Mongers

George Selgin/April 27, 2020May 4, 2020 /24 Comments
Ralph Nader flips out in response to Chair Powell's interest rate policy.

Ralph Nader Flips Out

George Selgin/April 10, 2020April 9, 2020 /10 Comments
Quack doctor tries to sell snake oil.

Robert Murphy on Market Monetarism

George Selgin/March 16, 2020March 16, 2020 /29 Comments

Why the Fed Shouldn't (and Can't) "Do Nothing"

George Selgin/March 3, 2020March 9, 2020 /15 Comments

Economic Thought

The New Deal

The New Deal and Recovery, Part 1: The Record

George Selgin/June 16, 2020August 7, 2020 /7 Comments
"Under the New Deal, the US economy grew at rapid rates, even for an economy in recovery." (Eric Rauchway, The Money Makers, p. 100.) Before I start telling you what "the New Deal" did and...
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The New Deal and Recovery: A New Alt-M Series

George Selgin/June 12, 2020August 7, 2020 /8 Comments

In Memoriam R.H.T.

George Selgin/May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 /7 Comments
monetary policy, cj, cato journal

Winter 2020 Cato Journal in Review: Monetary Policy, International Conflict, U.S. History, and More

Amanda Griffiths/February 19, 2020February 18, 2020 /Leave a comment
banking regulation, financial regulation, competition in banking, banking concentration, Thomas Philippon

Why There Has Been No Great Reversal in U.S. Banking

Diego Zuluaga/December 10, 2019January 2, 2020 /1 Comment

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Contributors

  • George Selgin
  • Larry White
  • Hu McCulloch
  • James Dorn
  • Diego Zuluaga
  • Jennifer Schulp

Categories

  • Banking Regulation (95)
  • Booms & Busts (38)
  • Commodity Money (71)
  • Currency Boards (19)
  • Digital Money (87)
  • Economic History (162)
  • Economic Thought (149)
  • Events (57)
  • Fiat Money (70)
  • Financial Innovation (45)
  • Financial Markets (129)
  • Free Banking (204)
  • Inflation & Deflation (71)
  • Legal Analysis (1)
  • Monetary Policy Primer (12)
  • Money & Politics (275)
  • News (193)
  • Recommended Reading (96)
  • Securities Regulation (5)
  • The Fed & Central Banks (345)
  • Uncategorized (11)

Recent Posts

  • The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold
  • Dollarization for Lebanon
  • The New Deal and Recovery, Part 6: The National Bank Holiday
  • The New Deal and Recovery, Part 5: The Banking Crisis
  • Fed's Intervention in Corporate Credit: A Risky Venture
  • Where Have All the Coins Gone?
  • The New Deal and Recovery, Part 4: FDR's Fed

Recent Comments

  • Ray Lopez on The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold
  • Brutus admirer on The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold
  • Ray Lopez on The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold
  • Brutus admirer on The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold
  • Ray Lopez on The New Deal and Recovery, Part 7: FDR and Gold

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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