Sound Money Project

  • David Stockman’s The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America

    This book review originally appeared in the Cayman Financial Review For six years I’ve told audiences (and even more than a few social acquaintances who would listen) that the 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis was not “The Big One.” In time, people will look back on that episode as relatively minor and fairly short-lived compared to the…

    David Stockman’s The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America
  • Op-ed: Time to restore sanity to the world’s monetary system

    Earlier this week, Dr. Judy Shelton published a piece in The Hill that shed light on one of the world’s most pressing, yet least discussed, issues: our global monetary system. Using China’s decision to devalue its currency as a starting point, Dr. Shelton explores how central bank discretion around the globe creates an economic reality where nations…

    Op-ed: Time to restore sanity to the world’s monetary system
  • Op-ed: It’s time for millennials to reclaim money’s moral high ground

    This morning in TownHall Finance, I made the claim that millennials must to reclaim money’s moral high ground. Young people today champion many causes- ranging from gun rights to school choice- but seem to ignore one issue that affects most of their daily interactions: The Federal Reserve’s discretionary monetary policy. This is polemic because: [M]oney plays a prominent role…

    Op-ed: It’s time for millennials to reclaim money’s moral high ground
  • Announcing sound money research grant opportunities

    Sound Money Research Grants  “The economic and moral arguments for sound money” The Atlas Network is proud to sponsor a research grant opportunity for students, young faculty and policy experts who are interested in championing the cause of sound money and a better understanding of sound monetary institutions.  Description: The Atlas Network is sponsoring four research grants in…

    Announcing sound money research grant opportunities
  • Announcing the sound money essay contest

    Sound Money Essay Contest “The economic and moral arguments for sound money” The Atlas Network’s Sound Money Project is proud to sponsor an essay contest for students, young faculty and policy experts who are interested in championing the cause of sound money and a better understanding of sound monetary institutions. Description: The Atlas Network’s Sound…

    Announcing the sound money essay contest
  • Op-ed: The financial deregulation that never was

    This piece was originally published by Forbes.com By Norbert Michel   Why do I write so much about the myth that financial market deregulation caused the financial crisis? Because that false narrative has spread so far and wide. Even some folks who are otherwise friendly to free-markets have bought into it. So here’s one more shot: financial markets were…

    Op-ed: The financial deregulation that never was
  • The gold standard

    Most modern advocates for a gold standard refer back to the international classical gold standard, which lasted from roughly 1870 to 1913. In addition to providing an endogenous money supply, the international gold standard enabled individuals from different countries to trade with one another in the absence of exchange rate risk because they were all…

    The gold standard
  • Money and the rule of law

    When people think of monetary economics, they tend to do so in the context of macroeconomics. The questions that are most often addressed have to do with the effects of particular monetary institutions or policies towards output, employment, inflation and other macro variables of interest. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, understanding the macroeconomic effects…

    Money and the rule of law
  • On cryptocurrencies

    Cryptocurrencies are digital monies (or, potential monies) that rely on cryptography to keep transactions secure and govern the supply over time.

    On cryptocurrencies
  • Why NGDP targeting?

    One of the most important questions in the field of monetary economics is “what should a central bank do?” It is only after this question is answered that one can begin to think about how a central bank should go about achieving its various target rates. The Federal Reserve, like most central banks, is mostly…

    Why NGDP targeting?
  • Currency boards and dollarization

    Sometimes sound money has to be imported from abroad. Some countries, like Ecuador, are dollarized. Ecuador dollarized its economy in the year 2000. Others countries don’t go that far, but get quite close, by imposing currency boards. During the 1990s, Argentina had a currency board where 1 Argentine peso could be converted for 1 US…

    Currency boards and dollarization
  • Commodity and commodity-backed currencies

    A commodity money is an item that individuals consume (or otherwise make use of) that also functions as a commonly accepted medium of exchange.

    Commodity and commodity-backed currencies