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, Lawrence H. White
Director: William J. Luther
Senior Fellows: Nicolás Cachanosky, Gerald P. Dwyer, Joshua R. Hendrickson, Thomas L. Hogan, Gerald P. O’Driscoll, Jr., Alexander W. Salter
Fellows: James L. Caton, J.P. Koning
Powell Pivots as Inflation Picks Up
“Powell recommended ditching the term transitory. ‘We tend to use it to mean that it won’t leave a permanent mark in the form of higher inflation,’ he told the Senate Committee. ‘I think it’s probably a good time to retire that word and try to explain more clearly what we mean.’” ~ William J. Luther
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Despite Fed Asset Purchases, Lending Remains Depressed
“The Fed’s recent asset purchases appear to have significantly expanded the money supply. But given the small changes in bank lending, it is not clear what their overall effects will be on inflation and the economy.” ~ Thomas L. Hogan
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Three Common Myths About Money and Inflation
“If we oversimplify inflation, we won’t know how to fight it, or whether we should fight it at all. Political responses to economic turmoil are bad enough without the additional complication of widespread misperceptions amongst the public.” ~ Alexander William Salter
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There’s More than One Way to Make Stablecoins Safe
“The PWG’s worries for the safety of stablecoin users are most applicable to one set of stablecoins: the set including USD Coin and Tether. A ‘banks-only’ model may be an improvement for some stablecoins, but it certainly isn’t the only way to ensure stablecoins are safe.” ~ J.P. Koning
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Cryptocurrencies and the National Bank Act: Learning the Wrong Lessons from History
“Perhaps the cryptocurrency market would benefit from regulatory oversight. But the regulators are certainly wrong to base their case on the historical experience of the US. The lesson they should learn from history is that regulation can be detrimental.” ~ Nicolás Cachanosky & William J. Luther
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Was Satoshi Nakamoto Right about Bitcoin Payments?
“Satoshi was correct that card systems work ‘well enough for most transactions’ and thus bitcoin had but a bit part to play in payments. But he was wrong about bitcoin being useful with retailers for small payments and non-reversibile retail payments.” ~ J.P. Koning
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What Does ‘Transitory Inflation’ Really Mean?
“Whether the Fed will conduct policy to render the recent episode of inflation transitory in either sense of the term remains to be seen. My view, informed by market expectations, is that the rate of inflation will eventually decline to something in the neighborhood of 2 percent.” ~ William J. Luther
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Crowding Out Under Quantitative Easing
“The data speaks loudly. An accommodative monetary policy has failed to facilitate a robust economic recovery. And an artificially low federal funds rate is pumping up the federal debt and weighing on private investment.” ~ James L. Caton
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Inflation and Consumer Welfare: Don’t Forget the Supply Side!
“Let’s keep our eye on the supply side. We should be making every effort, policy-wise, to ease restrictions on production and exchange. That will help both in the short run and the long run.” ~ Alexander W. Salter
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Assessing Market Expectations of Inflation
“Those denying any risk that inflation will remain above target or confidently predicting that 4 percent inflation will be the new normal, are not within the range of reasonable. They are rightly ridiculed.” ~ William J. Luther
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Is Larry Summers Channeling Benjamin Anderson?
“The post-2008 framework has incentivized the destabilization of monetary policy. The sooner we recognize this fact, the sooner we can seriously discuss a solution to the problem.” ~ James L. Caton
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Is Inflation Above the Fed’s Target?
“A credible Fed would anchor expectations to its target growth path. Unfortunately, the Fed has not been credible in the past. That leaves us with a much more difficult question today: what should the Fed do when it hasn’t done what it should have done?” ~ William J. Luther
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