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, Nicolás Cachanosky, Alexander W. Salter, Thomas L. Hogan
Fellows: James L. Caton, J.P. Koning
COVID-19 Made the Federal Reserve Sick
“The change in the Fed’s mandate is not something we can afford to ignore. Its new policies come with significant economic and political costs. If we do not come to grips with them, the Fed might not be able to help much when the next crisis hits.” ~ Alexander W. Salter
READ MORE
The Fed Is Not Independent, But It Should Be
“To be an effective central bank, the Fed must strive to remain independent of short-term political influence. A strict separation of monetary and fiscal policies helps bolster central bank independence.” ~ Thomas L. Hogan
READ MORE
How the Federal Reserve Literally Makes Money
“The Fed is spending up to US$2.3 trillion to help save the U.S. economy from the coronavirus recession. But where does all that money come from?” ~ William J. Luther
READ MORE
Keep the Fed Out of Municipal Finance
“Chairman Powell should follow the advice of his predecessors. With the program still in its infancy and economic recovery already underway, now is the time to end the MLF in order to preserve the Fed’s independence, maintain the separation between fiscal and monetary policy, and deter additional calls for municipal bailouts in the future.” ~ Thomas Hogan
READ MORE
Negative Interest Rates Explained
“If policy does not moderate and if investors are unable to innovate means to protect their positions from these policies, as they often have in the past, the current fiscal and monetary regime places the globe at risk of, at worst, financial catastrophe and, at best, stagnation.”~James L. Caton, Peter C. Earle, William J. Luther
READ MORE
It’s Time to End the Fed’s Dual Mandate
“The choice before us is simple: a central bank that is highly restricted, and therefore effective and independent, or one that is dominated by short-run political concerns, and therefore incompetent and subservient.” ~ Alexander Salter
READ MORE
The Recovery Has Begun, Ahead of Schedule
“Taken together, the most recent jobs report suggests we could see output recover to 90% or more by the end of August. That’s great news. But a complete recovery might take much longer than that.” ~ William J. Luther
READ MORE
With Argentina in Default, Economists Call for Good Faith Negotiations
“Argentina’s economic troubles are self-imposed. They are not the fault of its creditors, who just want to be repaid as promised. Any good-faith solution to Argentina’s problems must start by recognizing the real problem: large fiscal deficits.” ~ Nicholas Cachanosky
READ MORE
It’s Time for a Taxpayer Debit Card
“Distributing EIP cards instead of checks should reduce the government’s costs of paying relief, speed up the payments pipeline, and provide Americans with a cheaper way of accessing funds than going to check cashing outlets.” ~ J.P. Konig
READ MORE
Fed Lending Programs Might Be Legal, but They’re Still Bad Policies
“Congress should not use the Fed to accomplish fiscal goals through monetary means. There is no good reason to give the Fed a free pass just because their irresponsible decisions come with statutory cover.” ~ Alexander W. Salter
READ MORE
The Thin Green Line
“The Fed has again taken unprecedented action to respond to a crisis. Unfortunately, it has gone further towards erasing the separating monetary and fiscal policy, to the detriment of both.” ~ Scott Burns
READ MORE
R.I.P. Richard H. Timberlake
“Timberlake provided a blueprint for future sound money scholars to conduct thorough and well-respected research on monetary theory and history.” ~ Scott Burns
READ MORE
