The missing element – The ideal monetary system, part 13 18. 12. 2014. Printing money is a monopoly of the government. And it is one of its most precious monopolies and since the government is one of the least innovative operators in the market, we should not be surprised that the structure of the monetary system is far from ideal. Read more about The missing element – The ideal monetary system, part 13
Progressive VAT – The ideal monetary system, part 12 04. 12. 2014. If the hoarded stock of money finds it way to the real economy for some reason, it will lead to soaring inflation. What integrated mechanism could prevent this from happening? Read more about Progressive VAT – The ideal monetary system, part 12
Dollar export – The ideal monetary system, part 11 26. 11. 2014. the US has spent more overseas than what foreign countries buy from it, the difference currently being USD 40 billion per month. This raises two questions. Why indeed does the US not run out of money if it only flows out of the country? Why indeed do foreigners accept the dollar, and why do they participate in unsustainable processes? Read more about Dollar export – The ideal monetary system, part 11
A world built by hypnosis – The ideal monetary system, part 10 20. 11. 2014. What is impossible in physics is possible in the complex world of the economy: something could happen just because people believe in it. Self-fulfilling prophecy works. Read more about A world built by hypnosis – The ideal monetary system, part 10
Two-tier basic income – The ideal monetary system, part 9 19. 11. 2014. I argued that instead of asset purchases or boosted lending, we could much more successfully avoid deflation and stimulate the economy by means of a monetary basic income financed from newly printed money. There are two principal problems with this idea. Read more about Two-tier basic income – The ideal monetary system, part 9
Towards an unemployment-based society 13. 11. 2014. Driven by the vision of work-based society, the government has set about re-industrialising the country. I am convinced that the concept is entirely flawed. Read more about Towards an unemployment-based society
Monetary basic income – The ideal monetary system, part 8 11. 11. 2014. The Fed would be much more efficient and it could achieve its target by printing much less money if it made its purchases of enormous value in the market of real goods rather than on capital markets. That is, by purchasing goods rather than bonds. In good measure, the central bank will go to the baker’s to fetch its donuts, to the pub for the regular pint, and to the hairdresser’s to get its hair trimmed, and will use newly printed money to pay for all that. That would be real economic stimulus and job creation, and we could say goodbye to deflation. Read more about Monetary basic income – The ideal monetary system, part 8
Bitcoin 2.0 – Ethereum 02. 09. 2014. In an attempt to cash in on the recent popularity and prevalence of bitcoin, inventors have launched a good number (i.e. hundreds) of cryptocurrencies. What they have in common is that all of them are based on the pioneering bitcoin technology, except that some of them (e.g. litecoin) also involve meaningful developments. However, the majority do not add anything of significance to the technology. However, now something new is taking shape, an enhancement on the concept called Ethereum. Read more about Bitcoin 2.0 – Ethereum
Monetary socialism – The ideal monetary system, part 7 22. 07. 2014. Not long ago, there lived an American economist who thought that it would be best to close down the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. A rather drastic view. What makes it particularly interesting is that it wasn’t voiced by some extremist, sidelined, unrecognised scholar. On the contrary. This view was held by Milton Friedman, one of the most influential economists that ever lived, a Nobel Prize winner economic counsellor to President Reagan. Read more about Monetary socialism – The ideal monetary system, part 7
Helicopter money – The ideal monetary system, part 6 15. 07. 2014. Despite a zero interest rate the threat of falling prices is imminent, which hurts the economy rather badly. In a famous 2002 speech, former Fed chair Ben Bernanke proposed a conceptual solution to this very situation: as the printing press is a monopoly of the state, newly printed money should be injected into the economy, which will prevent deflation. Later on he also had the opportunity to do the stunt in practice. Read more about Helicopter money – The ideal monetary system, part 6