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Ideas for an Alternative Monetary Future

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Ideas for an Alternative Monetary Future

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Consumers should be free to choose their bank,.

To Help the Unbanked, Break the Industrial Bank Taboo

Diego Zuluaga/June 5, 2020June 4, 2020 /Leave a comment
According to the FDIC, 8.4 million U.S. households lacked a bank account as of 2017, putting America behind other rich countries. Minorities and the young are heavily overrepresented among the unbanked, so addressing this problem...
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Investors are being locked out by the SEC

Let Investors Decide, Part 1

Jennifer Schulp/June 1, 2020May 29, 2020 /1 Comment

In Memoriam R.H.T.

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

The Fed's Corporate Lending Facilities: A Case of Pseudo Markets

James Dorn/May 25, 2020May 29, 2020 /2 Comments
Taking a closer look at some suspicious statistics.

FinCEN's Suspicious Statistics

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

Money & Politics

Consumers should be free to choose their bank,.

To Help the Unbanked, Break the Industrial Bank Taboo

Diego Zuluaga/June 5, 2020June 4, 2020 /Leave a comment
According to the FDIC, 8.4 million U.S. households lacked a bank account as of 2017, putting America behind other rich countries. Minorities and the young are heavily overrepresented among the unbanked, so addressing this problem...
Continue reading
Investors are being locked out by the SEC

Let Investors Decide, Part 1

Jennifer Schulp/June 1, 2020May 29, 2020 /1 Comment

In Memoriam R.H.T.

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

The Fed's Corporate Lending Facilities: A Case of Pseudo Markets

James Dorn/May 25, 2020May 29, 2020 /2 Comments
Taking a closer look at some suspicious statistics.

FinCEN's Suspicious Statistics

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

The Fed & Central Banks

The Fed's Corporate Lending Facilities: A Case of Pseudo Markets

James Dorn/May 25, 2020May 29, 2020 /2 Comments
When the Federal Reserve announced on March 23 that it would purchase eligible corporate debt, syndicated loans, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) via a special purpose vehicle (SPV), backstopped by the Treasury, moribund markets jumped. Highly...
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Catch-11

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

Friday Flashback: The Courage to Refuse

George Selgin/May 1, 2020May 4, 2020 /5 Comments
Main Street

Main Street Memories, Yet Again

George Selgin/April 30, 2020May 4, 2020 /1 Comment
The boy who cried wolf.

Return of the Inflation Mongers

George Selgin/April 27, 2020May 4, 2020 /24 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, 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

Consumers should be free to choose their bank,.

To Help the Unbanked, Break the Industrial Bank Taboo

Diego Zuluaga/June 5, 2020June 4, 2020 /Leave a comment
According to the FDIC, 8.4 million U.S. households lacked a bank account as of 2017, putting America behind other rich countries. Minorities and the young are heavily overrepresented among the unbanked, so addressing this problem...
Continue reading
Investors are being locked out by the SEC

Let Investors Decide, Part 1

Jennifer Schulp/June 1, 2020May 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
Who lends to small businesses?

Who Lends to Small Businesses?

Diego Zuluaga/May 11, 2020May 11, 2020 /Leave a comment
Bringing signatures into the modern age.

Keeping it Virtual: Easing Barriers to Online Securities Law Compliance in the Wake of COVID-19

Jennifer Schulp/April 29, 2020May 4, 2020 /2 Comments

Fiat Money

A budget in chains.

The Constitutional Case for the Fed's Treasury Backstops

George Selgin/April 13, 2020April 13, 2020 /Leave a comment
One of the more controversial provisions of the CARES Act consists of the $454 billion it allows the U.S. Treasury to devote to "backstopping"  (that is, to supplying partial funding for) the Federal Reserve's emergency...
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A coin in decay.

That Darn Coin

George Selgin/March 24, 2020March 24, 2020 /13 Comments
gold, bimetallism, silver, gold standard, bitcoin

Robert Shiller on Bitcoin and Bimetallism

Larry White/February 11, 2020February 11, 2020 /2 Comments

Friday Flashback: Fedophilia

George Selgin/January 17, 2020February 14, 2020 /17 Comments
floor system, Federal Reserve, IOER, standing repo facility, corridor system

Dudley's Defense of the Fed's Floor System, Take 2

George Selgin/January 8, 2020January 9, 2020 /Leave a comment

Digital Money

Libra has another shot.

Libra's Star May Rise Again

Diego Zuluaga/April 16, 2020 /1 Comment
Just over 150 miles separate the Swiss cities of Basel and Geneva. For ten months, their distance has symbolized the gulf between the international regulators of the Financial Stability Board and the Libra Association, a...
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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
cryptocurrencies, libra, currency alternatives, currency choice, currency competition

Bruno Le Maire's Coup de Brumaire

Diego Zuluaga/October 17, 2019January 2, 2020 /1 Comment

Commodity Money

The Classical Gold Standard Can Inform Monetary Policy

James Dorn/March 4, 2020March 3, 2020 /8 Comments
Watching the frenzy surrounding Judy Shelton’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on February 13, one is led to believe that the gold standard is a “nutty” idea, for which no serious economist or...
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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

The Resource Costs of Fiat Money Are Now Higher Than Those of a Gold Standard

Larry White/December 17, 2019January 2, 2020 /9 Comments
gold standard, commodity prices, inflation, volatility, Stephen Moore, Herman Cain, Jerome Powell, Judy Shelton

On Targeting the Price of Gold

George Selgin/August 29, 2019January 2, 2020 /5 Comments

Free Banking

In Memoriam R.H.T.

George Selgin/May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 /7 Comments
I don't think of myself as an especially lucky fellow. I've never bought a lottery ticket, or wagered more than a few bucks at a time (and that only in my impetuous youth) on horses,...
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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
Alexander Hamilton, antebellum banking, First Bank of the United States, mercantilism, ten dollar bill

Friday Flashback: Alexander Hamilton, Banking Mercantilist

Larry White/February 22, 2019January 2, 2020 /3 Comments

Currency Boards

Main street open for business.

When the Fed Tried to Save Main Street

George Selgin/March 30, 2020April 6, 2020 /1 Comment
Any day now, the Federal Reserve will start making loans to small and medium-sized businesses, breaking new ground with its Section 13(3) lending authority. Yet this won't be the first time the Fed set its...
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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
currency competition, dollarization, hyperinflation, libra, zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Dollar, Monetary Sovereignty, and Opposition to Libra

Larry White/October 17, 2019January 2, 2020 /2 Comments
dollarization, Ecuador, mercantilism, trade

A Strong Currency is No Good Reason to Keep Tariffs High

Larry White/July 5, 2019July 5, 2019 /2 Comments

Inflation & Deflation

The boy who cried wolf.

Return of the Inflation Mongers

George Selgin/April 27, 2020May 4, 2020 /24 Comments
Back in May 2009, Paul Krugman published a column titled "The Big Inflation Scare." In it, he complained about the "inflation fear-mongering" going on at the time. "Suddenly," Krugman wrote, "everyone is talking about inflation....
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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

Vice Chair Quarles' Stigma Problem

George Selgin/February 13, 2020February 14, 2020 /18 Comments

Economic Thought

In Memoriam R.H.T.

George Selgin/May 26, 2020May 26, 2020 /7 Comments
I don't think of myself as an especially lucky fellow. I've never bought a lottery ticket, or wagered more than a few bucks at a time (and that only in my impetuous youth) on horses,...
Continue reading
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
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
Nominal GDP, Inflation Target, Monetary Policy, Fed, Dual Mandate

Lars Svensson on NGDP Targeting

George Selgin/October 15, 2019May 16, 2020 /23 Comments

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Contributors

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

Categories

  • Banking Regulation (89)
  • Booms & Busts (29)
  • Commodity Money (67)
  • Currency Boards (17)
  • Digital Money (86)
  • Economic History (153)
  • Economic Thought (147)
  • Events (54)
  • Fiat Money (66)
  • Financial Innovation (43)
  • Financial Markets (127)
  • Free Banking (203)
  • Inflation & Deflation (70)
  • Monetary Policy Primer (12)
  • Money & Politics (260)
  • News (178)
  • Recommended Reading (96)
  • The Fed & Central Banks (338)
  • Uncategorized (11)

Recent Posts

  • To Help the Unbanked, Break the Industrial Bank Taboo
  • Let Investors Decide, Part 1
  • In Memoriam R.H.T.
  • The Fed's Corporate Lending Facilities: A Case of Pseudo Markets
  • FinCEN's Suspicious Statistics
  • Catch-11
  • Who Lends to Small Businesses?

Recent Comments

  • gopi on The Fed's Corporate Lending Facilities: A Case of Pseudo Markets
  • Kevin Dowd on In Memoriam R.H.T.
  • Max Hydrogen on Backing, Shmacking
  • Max Hydrogen on Backing, Shmacking
  • Max Hydrogen on Backing, Shmacking

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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