The Sound Money Project was founded in January 2009 to conduct research and promote awareness about monetary stability and financial privacy. The project is comprised of leading academics and practitioners in money, banking, and macroeconomics. It offers regular commentary and in-depth analysis on monetary policy, alternative monetary systems, financial markets regulation, cryptocurrencies, and the history of monetary and macroeconomic thought. For the latest on sound money issues, subscribe to our working paper series and follow along on Twitter or Facebook.
Advisory Board: Steve H. Hanke, Jerry L. Jordan, Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr., Lawrence H. White
Director: William J. Luther
Senior Fellows: Gerald P. Dwyer, Joshua R. Hendrickson
Fellows: Scott A. Burns, James L. Caton, Nicolás Cachanosky, Alexander W. Salter
Contributors: Brian C. Albrecht, J.P. Koning
Venmo, The Public Version
As Vice reports, New York lawmakers want to create a “public Venmo.” Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, allows users to make person-to-person payments. Under the proposal, New York State would build and operate its own Venmo-like payments platform. …
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Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner
The latest consumer price index report marks the end of a nearly seven-year bet with my dissertation advisor — a bet that I have officially won.
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The 2019 Sound Money Project Essay Contest Winners
What are the merits of returning to the gold standard? Is such a system feasible today?
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The Effect of Data Lags on Monetary Policy
Recognizing the existence of these lags does not imply that the Fed is incapable of reducing the depth and duration of recessions. However, it should instill a sense of humility in those of us considering what the Fed might accomplish in practice.
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In Argentina, Inflation Is Still a Monetary Phenomenon
If there is a lesson to be learned from the Argentinian experience, it is that one should never underestimate people’s willingness and capacity to rationalize alternative, but clearly wrong, explanations of well-known problems like inflation.
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What Is the Relationship Between Monetary Policy and Fiscal Policy?
Hydraulic Keynesianism is now usually found in the comparatively unsophisticated realm of the popular press.
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Monetary Policy: Seeing Like a State
If monetary policymakers actually wish to contribute to the public welfare, they need to stop seeing like a state.
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The End of Traditional Monetary Policy
Last June, the FRED Blog identified something that has emerged in discussions I have had with other macroeconomists: the standard macroeconomics textbook no longer adequately explains monetary policy at the Federal Reserve. Before the crisis in t …
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Anonymity Vouchers: An Improvement for Private Transactions
Financial anonymity is a controversial topic. It’s no wonder that central bankers, a conservative lot, tend to shy away from it. A recent paper from the European Central Bank (ECB) outlining a proof of concept for anonymous digital currency payments is …
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Negative Nominal Interest Rates: Just Say No
Not willing to let a terrible proposal die, President Trump has reiterated his suggestion that the United States would be better off with negative nominal interest rates. In a line that generated laughter, he said, “Many [in the eurozone] are actually …
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