The Chicago Plan Revisited

At the height of the Great Depression a number of leading U.S. economists advanced a proposal for monetary reform that became known as the Chicago Plan. It envisaged the separation of the monetary and credit functions of the banking system, by requiring 100% reserve backing for deposits. Irving Fisher (1936) claimed the following advantages for this plan: (1) Much better control of a major source of business cycle fluctuations, sudden increases and contractions of bank credit and of the supply of bank-created money. (2) Complete elimination of bank runs. (3) Dramatic reduction of the (net) public debt. (4) Dramatic reduction of private debt, as money creation no longer requires simultaneous debt creation. We study these claims by embedding a comprehensive and carefully calibrated model of the banking system in a DSGE model of the U.S. economy. We find support for all four of Fisher's claims. Furthermore, output gains approach 10 percent, and steady state inflation can drop to zero without posing problems for the conduct of monetary policy.

This work presents a comprehensive history and evaluation of the role of the 100 percent reserve plan in the banking legislation of the New Deal reform era from its inception in 1933 to its re-emergence in the current financial reform debate in the US.

Can Islamic finance save the global system? Islamic Finance and the New Financial System describeshow the adoption of Islamic finance principles in future regulatorydecisions could help prevent future shocks in the global financialsystem. Using illustrations and examples to highlight key points inrecent history, this book discusses the causes of financial crises,why they are becoming more frequent and increasingly severe, andhow the new financial system will incorporate elements of Islamicfinance – whether deliberately or not. With an introspectivelook at the system and an examination of the misconceptions anddeficiencies in theory vs. practice, readers will learn why Islamicfinance has not been as influential as it should be on the largerglobal system. Solutions to these crises are thoroughly detailed,and the author puts forth a compelling argument about what can beexpected in the future. Despite international intervention and global policy changes,the financial system remains in a fragile state. There is anargument to be made about integrating Islamic finance into the newsystem to facilitate stronger resilience, and this book explainsthe nuts and bolts of the idea while providing the reader with ageneral understanding of Islamic finance. Understand the key principles of Islamic finance Examine the history of the current financial system Discover how Islamic finance can help build a new debt-freeeconomy Learn how Islamic finance theory doesn't always dictatepractice Although Islamic finance is a growing market, it is still aforeign concept to many. Those within the Islamic finance circleswonder why the system has yet to gain broader appeal despite itsability to create a strong and well-balanced economy. IslamicFinance and the New Financial System provides clever analysisand historical background to put the issues into perspective.

According to leading economist Ann Pettifor, one of the few people to predict the 2008 financial crisis, money is not a commodity but a promise. This radical reconsideration of the power of money means that we can reimagine the way the economy works. The Production of Money also examines popular alternative debates on, and innovations in, money, such as "green QE" and "helicopter money." She sets out the possibility of linking the money in our pockets (or on our smartphones) to the improvements we want to see in the world around us.

An extracts summary from the book "It's Money."

This book discusses the need for a paradigm shift from Islamic economics universe of discourse to Iqtisād, a socio-economic system that is entirely independent from other economic doctrines and systems of thought. It provides an overview of critiques of the science and dogma of mainstream, orthodox, neoclassical, or simply Economics, with its axioms of rationality, scarcity, and unlimited wants. There is also a critical analysis of Islamic economics, and its failures to set its own policy agenda and development objectives. Our contention in this book is that Iqtisād--the Qur’an’s vision of how the economy is to be arranged—provides such a paradigm with a radically different philosophical foundation from that of Economics to the point that makes grafting one onto the other Impossible. Iqtisād offers a genuine and authentic Islamic paradigm with unique etymological and philosophical foundations. It is a unique system that derives its organizing principles from the principal source of the Quran, rather than Economics. The logical coherence of its immutable system of rules compliance, institutional structures, and risk-sharing relations provides the foundations for economic dynamism, financial stability, and shared prosperity. It ensures that resources are efficiently managed, poverty is eradicated, income and wealth mal-distributions are corrected, and the internal sources of economic injustices gripping human societies are eliminated. The Impossibility Theorem proposed in this book implies that, metaphysically, ontologically, epistemologically, axiologically, and teleologically, the two polar cases of Iqtisād and Economics are so radically different to rule out any grafting of one onto the other in order to present an intermediate paradigm with a synthetic discipline called Islamic economics. Given its multidisciplinary contents, this book will be of interest to a wide audience, including economists, policymakers, philosophers, theologians, and jurists, and can guide also free-thinking readers to a clarity of understanding about the conditions of humanity and the imperative of change with a sincerity of purpose and coherence in knowledge.

Because most people and their countries seek wealth and power, and because money and credit are the biggest single influence on how wealth and power rise and decline, if one does not seek knowledge of how money works, one cannot understand the biggest driver of politics within and between countries; hence one cannot understand how the world order works. If one doesn’t understand how the world order works, one can’t understand the post-pandemic debt tsunami that’s coming. I believe that the times ahead will be radically different from the times we have experienced so far in our lifetimes. It is indeed quite astonishing that money, ever-present in our lives, is so poorly understood; even by many economic experts themselves. This incomprehension stems from the deliberate efforts of the financial sector to “obscure its activities” in order to maintain its omnipotence. This book seeks to address this “crisis of ignorance” by providing an easily understood and comprehensive understanding of money in the hope of empowering people against finance’s grip over their lives and those of their society. The digital revolution post-pandemic, will lead to a radical departure from the traditional model of monetary exchange. The creation of a Digital Financial Market Infrastructure will underpin the unbundling and re-bundling of the functions of money within society. Although digital money itself is not new to modern economies, digital legal tender (DLT), which exists without any Ledger or Central Bank, will facilitate instantaneous peer-to-peer transfers of value in a way that today is impossible. The importance of digital connectedness, will often supersede the importance of macroeconomic links, and lead to the establishment of “Digital Financial Markets” linking the currency to membership of a particular financial market rather than to a specific country. Capitalism underpins wealth generation and hence the existence of a free digital financial market. This book seeks to transform Money into a digital currency, which supports a more equitable access to capital, and ensure its convertibility into a universal World Currency Unit as digital legal tender. Digital currencies without borders may also cause an upheaval of the international monetary system: countries that are socially or digitally integrated with their neighbours may face digital dollarization, and the prevalence of systemically important platforms could lead to the emergence of digital currency areas that transcend national borders. Digital legal tender, within a multiplicity of currencies, ensures that money as a public good, remains a relevant medium of exchange which achieves payment finality to all transactions. Additionally, the universal supranational-currency, the World Currency Unit is defined to support the global transfer of value between any two people on the planet today, without the need for any treaties, or financial service intermediaries. Universal access to capital which is readily convertible to globally trusted units of account combined with a censorship-resistant means of payment underpins global trade, will improve market access for holders of low per-unit value, producers, and consumers in developing and developed countries. The Vision is a Borderless Global Market, underpinning universal wealth creation, which never closes… This book defines the Universe of Discourse(domain) and hence creates a shared conceptual schema (or language) within which to communicate and deploy a Digital Currency, to achieve universal legal finality to all financial transactions.

"Offering provocative and compelling solutions for remedying the country's banking system, [this] presents a transcription of the conference, "Fixing the Banking System for Good' organized by the Global Interdependence Center. This conference offered a variety of speakers presenting differing views of key issues, all with a common goal - to moderate the financial disruptions the current system allows; to provide a sound, stable currency; to compel, through market forces, more transparency in the activities of financial institutions; and to take taxpayers off the hook. In all of the plans, more capital and more transparency are key elements, along with the end to government guarantees, which provide advantages to large, opaque financial institutions. [It] compiles the latest thinking of many leading minds in finance and economics and provides a clear prescription for fixing the banking system as well as the global monetary system"--Publisher's description.