Sound Money Project
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Negative Interest Rates: A Free Market Phenomenon
Negative interest rates are not unnatural. They are a regular phenomenon in unregulated free markets.
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Small Business Lending Is Not the Fed’s Job
During times of economic crisis, should emergency loans to small businesses be made by the Department of Defense, Department of Education, or Department of State? I suspect most Americans would say “No” to all three. If needed, emergency loans to small businesses can be made by the Treasury or Small Business Administration. It’s not the…
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Why Relief Payments Are So Slow to Arrive
The Federal government has started sending relief funds to Americans. But, according to the New York Times editorial board, it is not doing so quickly enough. “The government has made matters worse by dawdling,” it writes. The editorial board is right. Americans have been promised $1,200 in relief funds. But it took almost a week…
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Cash Is King in COVID-19
We’re still early in this crisis, so who knows what patterns in cash demand will emerge. But for now, cash is filling its normal role as alleviator of uncertainty. To cope with the turmoil, people are withdrawing a bit more of the stuff. And that’s fine!
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Burner Cards and Financial Privacy
The growing demand for virtual cards also serves as a good reminder that the ability to exert control over one’s personal information when making transactions isn’t just a feature that drug dealers want. Regular folks operating in the above-ground economy demand a degree of privacy, as well.
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Commercial Habits and Pandemics
Historian William Hutton recounts how country-folk were often too afraid to enter villages filled with potentially sick customers. Instead, they would bring their merchandise to the plague stone, usually set up on the outskirts of a town.
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The $1 Coin: World’s Worst Monetary Idea
There are a lot of bad monetary ideas floating around. Few are as awful as the American one-dollar coin, however. Despite almost fifty years of existence, the $1 coin has perennially failed to gain currency in the US.
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Why Aren’t Anti-Money-Laundering Regulations Adjusted for Inflation?
Banks and other financial institutions are required by law to implement measures for catching money launderers. Over the decades, these obligations have been getting more onerous due to new rules and the tightening of existing rules. They have also become more onerous because of inflation. Anti-money-laundering (AML) rules set a number of fixed-dollar trigger points.…
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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. What problems would a public Venmo solve? In his original proposal, law professor Robert Hockett mentions…
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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 a rare exception. Entitled Exploring anonymity in central bank digital currencies, the paper attracted…
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•
Negative Interest Rates: A Free Market Phenomenon
Negative interest rates are not unnatural. They are a regular phenomenon in unregulated free markets.
-
•
Small Business Lending Is Not the Fed’s Job
During times of economic crisis, should emergency loans to small businesses be made by the Department of Defense, Department of Education, or Department of State? I suspect most Americans would say “No” to all three. If needed, emergency loans to small businesses can be made by the Treasury or Small Business Administration. It’s not the…
-
•
Why Relief Payments Are So Slow to Arrive
The Federal government has started sending relief funds to Americans. But, according to the New York Times editorial board, it is not doing so quickly enough. “The government has made matters worse by dawdling,” it writes. The editorial board is right. Americans have been promised $1,200 in relief funds. But it took almost a week…
-
•
Cash Is King in COVID-19
We’re still early in this crisis, so who knows what patterns in cash demand will emerge. But for now, cash is filling its normal role as alleviator of uncertainty. To cope with the turmoil, people are withdrawing a bit more of the stuff. And that’s fine!
-
•
Burner Cards and Financial Privacy
The growing demand for virtual cards also serves as a good reminder that the ability to exert control over one’s personal information when making transactions isn’t just a feature that drug dealers want. Regular folks operating in the above-ground economy demand a degree of privacy, as well.
-
•
Commercial Habits and Pandemics
Historian William Hutton recounts how country-folk were often too afraid to enter villages filled with potentially sick customers. Instead, they would bring their merchandise to the plague stone, usually set up on the outskirts of a town.
-
•
The $1 Coin: World’s Worst Monetary Idea
There are a lot of bad monetary ideas floating around. Few are as awful as the American one-dollar coin, however. Despite almost fifty years of existence, the $1 coin has perennially failed to gain currency in the US.
-
•
Why Aren’t Anti-Money-Laundering Regulations Adjusted for Inflation?
Banks and other financial institutions are required by law to implement measures for catching money launderers. Over the decades, these obligations have been getting more onerous due to new rules and the tightening of existing rules. They have also become more onerous because of inflation. Anti-money-laundering (AML) rules set a number of fixed-dollar trigger points.…
-
•
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. What problems would a public Venmo solve? In his original proposal, law professor Robert Hockett mentions…
-
•
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 a rare exception. Entitled Exploring anonymity in central bank digital currencies, the paper attracted…