Monetary-policy

Review of The Rotten Heart of Europe: the dirty war for Europe's money, by Bernard Connolly, Faber & Faber, 1995, £17.50.

THIS BRILLIANT book is a devastating exposure of the pretensions of those who want to rule Europe. It shows that the attempts to achieve monetary and economic union, and consequently political union, are bad for us. They will not bring monetary stability, economic growth or political harmony. Instead they will destabilise currencies, reduce growth and promote hatred between the nations of Europe.

Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is supposed to build on the experience of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM). Britain's membership of the ERM forced us into a disastrous and quite unnecessary recession. After two years of suffering, Major said in July 1992 that Britain would soon be the leader of the ERM. Two months later, we were well out of it, and ERM had bermbed, as Jacques Clouseau, Major's mentor, would say.

ERM constrained British Government policy on non-monetary matters too. The Government appeased Spain over the fishing dispute to keep Spain happy about the sterling/peseta rate. So the Common Fisheries Policy, so damaging to Britain's fishing industry, is not an isolated EU aberration: it stems from the whole logic of economic and monetary union.

The ERM was described as the Eternal Recession Mechanism; EMU is likely to be Even More Useless. The ERM kept the poor countries poor; it did not help them to converge; it certainly did not help them to meet the Maastricht criteria. Spain's experience of ERM was catastrophic: 22% unemployed. The ERM forced Denmark into recession: unemployment doubled to 12%, the budget was slashed, and investment, output and wages all fell. In the ERM, Ireland's unemployment soared from 11% to 23%. ERM subordinated nations' economic interests to minorities' foreign policy goals: ruling class interests dominated working class interests. Some still claim that ERM and EMU could control capital, but actually they were and are attacks on the working class.

A 1992 report by the Monetary Committee, which advises the EU's Council of Ministers, admitted that ERM did not stabilise prices or money and did not reduce inflation. Perhaps it was after all just a tool for moving countries towards political union.

The book also depicts the present dangerous struggle between the French and German ruling classes for control over the proposed institutions of a single European state. Germany is determined to keep the Deutschmark and the Bundesbank: it wants EMU so that it can assimilate other countries into an expanded Deutschmark zone. France wants a new currency and wants to get its hands on the Bundesbank; it pushed for the Maastricht Treaty, which would destroy the Deutschmark. Who would control Europe's currency? Who would control the proposed new European Central Bank? Germany or France?

As Wilhelm Nolling, a Bundesbank Council member, said: "We should be under no illusion - the present controversy over the new European monetary order is about power, influence and the pursuit of national interests."

They are already fighting about the 1996 InterGovernmental Conference. Germany wants the economic criteria for EMU met as soon as possible: it insists that economic convergence must precede monetary union. France wants the earliest possible date for monetary union, believing that monetary union would produce economic convergence. Both are wrong of course: convergence cannot and will not be achieved, either way.

EMU's implications are universally unpopular. The workers of France, Italy and Belgium are striking against the EU's schemes. The Austrian Government fell in October, unable to pass the EU-required budget.

We can see both from ERM's effects, and from the effects of the attempted imposition of the Maastricht criteria, how damaging membership of EMU would be. It would cause, as intended, a permanent lowering of wages, a permanently higher level of unemployment, and massive cuts in public spending.

Connolly sums up: "My central thesis is that the ERM and EMU are not only inefficient but also undemocratic: a danger not only to our wealth but to our freedoms and ultimately, our peace. The villains of the story - some more culpable than others - are bureaucrats and self-aggrandizing politicians. The ERM is a mechanism for subordinating the economic welfare, democratic rights and national freedom of citizens of the European countries to the will of political and bureaucratic elites whose power-lust, cynicism and delusions underlie the actions of the vast majority of those who now strive to create a European superstate. The ERM has been their chosen instrument, and they have used it cleverly."

Bernard Connolly was fired by the European bureaucrats after this book came out. If you read this book you will understand why. This book has all the detail you could ask for. It is an incredible expose of the events leding up to European Monetary Union.

If you support the European Community, reading this book will change your mind -- if you dare read it.

Excellent work. The reality at the core of all the pomp-and-circumstance surrounding EMU. Read it and be wiser.

This book explains the SCAM! The federal tax code book says that income taxes are collected as a voluntary contribution, then why are we "forced" to pay, this book is the door way to freedom!!!

This book describes the insidious threats undertaken by a select group of moneyed powers to destroy our Constitutional rights given to Congress in the control of money, regulating its value, and the right of the country's money supply belonging to its citizens.

The author does an excellent analysis of the British intent to destroy America's fledgling financial dreams of a money system for the people and created by the people. Through its agents of Jay Cooke & Co., the Rothschilds and the traitorous Senator from Ohio John Sherman (brother of Gen. Wm. T. Sherman) the rise of the national banks and their sole intent to destroy the Constitution by controlling and regulating the supply and value of the country's money. Drawing on numerous 'hidden' sources -- memos, letters, etc. -- the book describes exceedingly well the worst in political and financial corruption encountered in the 19th Century.

This book explains the dialectics of money power eloquently and scholarly. Concentrating mainly on the 19th Century (it is a little weak on the Hamilton, Jefferson and Morris discussions first exposing the differences in financial power prior to 1792 and the discussions in determing what a dollar or 'unit' consists) nevertheless, it rightfully places Andrew Jackson as perhaps the greatest president in exposing the corruption of the (Second) Bank of the United States and the seditious acts of those associated with it (or instance its president Nicholas Biddle, et al.) and most importantly, providing the clarion warning call to all 19th, 20th and 21st Century sons of liberty that giving away the people's control of the money system is the primary constitutional threat to sovereignty this country faces.

The state banking era (1837 to 1862) however is not properly addressed (perhaps the author believed this was the era in which decentralized banking practices were in accord with the intent of those who framed the Constitution -- we will never know), and neither is there a full expose of those individual interests in forming the power basis of national banks with the exception of the secret meetings of John Sherman (in 1867) with British financiers. Obviously, at the time the book was written, the national banks had completely corrupted the financial system to the point where so much of the system's weaknesses were blatantly noticable by all (debters and creditors alike) but those very few who derived maximum benefit. The state banking era was but a temporary memory between the interlude between the collapse of the corrupt (second) Bank of the US and the rise of the corrupt national banking system (which was in guise a reincarnation at a tempt at a central banking system -- the National Banking Association in NY called the shots much like today's Fed. Res. system).

The 1862 to 1875 period is rightfully exposed as the most politically and financially corrupt period of the national banking era. Until 1873 gold and silver bullion was freely coined into money on account of the depositer at the mint, thereafter, on the account of the US Treasury. The mysterious circumstances surrounding the congressional passage of the Act of Feb. 12, 1873 is exposed and evidence is presented on why so many in Congress changed their voting records to promote passage of this act. Furthermore, the big mystery of why the silver dollar was deleted from the list of coins to be made on the final draft of the bill remains today. The effects of this would shape the debate between the silver and gold interests until 1900. Thereby, 1873 is rightfully exposed by the author as the last year the US could be a creditor nation, thereafter it was indebted to those interests who controlled politics and finances. With most of the later quarter of the 19th century the moneyed interests attempted to destroy the greenbacks (Resumption Act of 1875) and government financial instruments in hopes to promoting a debt based financial system where the money does not belong to the people but must be had through the banks at high rates of interest.

To a great extent the national banking system brought about a system that succeeded in creating a central banking power controlling the political and financial system in the country. While the forms change with time, legal prowess and the vagaries of the Supreme Court, the insidious greed of the heart finds new modes of concentrating money and power.

In summation, the book is an excellent scholarly written overview on the rise of the banking system of this country. Numismatic researchers of both coin and financial paper too will find it highly rewarding. It is highly recommended.

"The world is governed by far different personages than what is imagined by those not behind the scenes"--Benjamin Disraeli "Those unaware are unaware of being unaware"--Merrill Jenkins, Monetary Realist. For nearlyone-half century, the news industry strove to keep us fearful of a being enslaved by a country that we were feeding and financing and this was absurd! President James A. Garfield (1831-1881) stated:"Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all commerce and industry"( including the news industry) He was shot. It is apparent that the total effort of those in power is to control the volume of money by all means fair and foul so that they will remain our absolute masters. This message concerns the controlling of the volume of money. There were people who hated the U.S. Constitution as it was being written and there has always been such people since it was ratified over 200 years ago. Congress was granted the power to provide penalties for counterfeiting. Naturally, counterfeiters don't want either interference or penalties. Nevertheless, in the Mint Act of April 2, 1792, Congress provided a penalty of death for officers of the mint who might participate in debasing our gold and silver coinage. This harsh penalty was deemed necessary because those wise men knew that unrestrained counterfeiters could overthrow the republic. Where are we now? FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF RICHMOND, KEYNES ON INFLATION, PG.6 KEYNES IS QUOTED FROM HIS BOOK, ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF PEACE. " LENIN IS SAID TO HAVE DECLARED THAT THE BEST WAY TO DESTROY THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM WAS TO DEBAUCH THE CURRENCY. BY A CONTINUING PROCESS OF INFLATION, GOVERNMENTS CAN CONFISCATE SECRETLY AND UNOBSERVED, AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE WEALTH OF THEIR CITIZENS. BY THIS METHOD THEY NOT ONLY CONFISCATE, BUT THEY CONFISCATE ARBITRARILY. AND WHILE THE PROCESS IMPOVERISHES MANY, IT ACTUALLY ENRICHES SOME. LENIN WAS CERTAINLY RIGHT. THERE IS NO SUBTLER, NO SURER MEANS OF OVERTURNING THE EXISTING BASIS IF SOCIETY THAN TO DEBAUCH THE CURRENCY. THE PROCESS ENGAGES ALL THE HIDDEN FORCES OF ECONOMIC LAW ON THE SIDE OF DESTRUCTION, AND DOES IT IN A MANER IN WHICH NOT ONE MAN IN A MILLION IS ABLE TO DIAGNOSE." FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF RICHMOND, KEYNES ON INFLATION, PG.10 KEYNES IS QUOTED FROM HIS BOOK, TRACT "Keynes argues that inflation is a method of taxation, which the government uses to secure the command over real resources. Resources just as real as those obtained by ordinary taxation. What is raised by printing notes is just as much taken from the public as is a beer duty or an income tax. A government can live by this means when it can live by no other. It is a form of taxation which the public finds hardest to evade and even the weakest government can enforce when it can enforce nothing else."

Peter and Anna Lisa Montessi's Everybody Wants Your Money: A Guidebook To Keeping It is quite different from most financial guidebooks, which tend to be written for people who already have a sizeable amount of money to invest. Unlike those books, Everybody Wants Your Money is designed specifically for people on a paycheck and a tight budget; it concisely and clearly narrates strategies to save, invest, and accumulate wealth even for the most perpetually cash-strapped workers. Chapters discuss topics such as goals and plans, maintaining records, cutting back spending, saving through a checking account, balancing one's checkbook, credit, and building one's reserves. Samples, examples, forms, and questionnaires to self-test your knowledge are included throughout. Written in highly accessible language for the lay reader, Everybody Wants Your Money is a "must" for any working person looking for tips, tricks, and techniques to making their money work for them, create a college fund, put aside something for retirement, or just make a simple emergency cushion in case of unforeseen financial hardship. An excellent, "user friendly", very highly recommended financial and instructional book.

I THINK THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERYONE'S HOME AND IN THE SCHOOLS. IT IS JUST WONDERFUL. I WISHED I HAD READ THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. SO INFORMATIVE. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AUTHORS.

This is a great book on the basics of budgeting and money management. Step by step, the authors guide the novice through saving accounts, checking accounts, and how to avoid credit pitfalls.

Broz provides an easy to read text. His premises are clear, leading to true understanding. I've read much on this subject, but never such a complete work. It is as economical as can be expected; and I would argue more general than others have claimed. I highly suggest this book, and thank Dr. Broz for his contribution.

Broz's "The International Origins of the Federal Reserve System" is a excellent example of how single-case qualitative empirical research should be done. By providing a detailed formal theory framework, Broz is able to derive specific hypothesis about the development of the Federal Reserve in a manner that is both scientifically rigorous and historically detailed. While comparison with other cases would have been helpful (and neccessary if the model is to be generalized), this book is one of the best qualitative works in political science in general and political economy in particular in years.

You can't find a more accessible text for this topic. I have scoured the librarys of academia and find that this text is not only readable and enjoyable, but it is superior in its treatment of subject matter. A look at the index will tell any reader that Mr. Broz's volume is the compleat guide.

Don't miss your chance to read this welcoming introductory text.

Great book I can now see that we need to get back to having our money backed by gold and silver I have used Liberty Dollars in many states and find that many like what it stands for.
http://www.chooney.com/liberty/liberty1.html
Buy this book you wont go wrong one you read it you will want to
use Liberty Dollars also and we all will take back our money one Liberty Dollar at a time

About three years ago, while reading Otto Skinner's 'The Biggest "Tax Loophole" of All', I became aware of the phenomenon known as fractional reserve banking. Why is it a phenomenon? Essentially, fractional reserve banking is the ability to create money out of thin air. Or more accurately, the license to create money out of thin air. Black's Law Dictionary defines "license" as, "The permission by competent authority to do an act which without such permission, would be illegal." But it isn't the people doing this. It is the bankers courtesy of the Federal Reserve Act. People like the Rockefellers, Nelson W. Aldrich, J.P. Morgan and Paul Warburg. This books goes into the details. Fantastic information explaining the history of money, where the national debt comes from, why statists depise gold and silver and suggestions on what you can do about the problem of fiat currency. I, above all things, stopped using Federal Reserve Notes and credit cards and started using the Liberty Dollar. I signed up as an associate two years ago. It has been a fun and informative journey. I also have met Bernard von NotHaus on several occassions.

A riveting book that will open your eyes to the ecomomic problems in our society and how we got here. But best of all it explains in detail the solution to those problems. I loved it.

This book saved [me]so many times in my Monetary Theory Class. I would have to say that this book is a little more advanced than your typical intermediate economics book. One should have a fairly good understanding of algebra and calculus (derivatives and integrals) to understand this book as there are a lot of equations. But that is also what makes it so cool! What I found particularly interesting was the chapter on Episodes in U.S. Monetary History. Although it was not required that we read this book for our class, my professor had said that anyone considering attending graduate school should read this book because they would benefit immensely from it. He said a lot of what this book covers will set up the framework to understanding more advanced level courses in economics at the graduate level.

I wish that this book were still in print. I am an economics student and have found it most useful in my study of monetary economics. It has clear explanations and discussions. It is much more useful and comprehendable than either Walsh, "monetary Theory and Policy" or Goodhart's "money, information, and uncertainty." While one may prefer another book for covering open economy monetary this book is fantastic for the rest of monetary.

This book covers the basics of monetary economics very well

This book might well become the standard (mainstream) graduate text in monetary economics.

This is the best book length treatment of the state of the art in academic thinking about inflation and central banking, a lot of what economics is about to lay people and politicians. While this is a graduate text in macroeconomics, in no way is it unnecessarily abtruse. You'll need to be comfortable with little more than algebra, linear difference equations, and the sort of elementary statistics practical economists do. Amazingly, this book has no obvious competitors because first rate economists wrongly disdain writing books.

This book provides a good grounding on monetary theory and the questions it wants to answer. It is easy to follow whilst providing covering most recent development. Its only drawback is that it uses the HP filter as the benchmark which any model should replicate, without accounting for the fact that there are several problems with that filter.

Most of the essays collected here appeared previously in the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond's Economic Quarterly (or the same FRB's Economic Review). The publisher Elgar has provided a valuable service in gathering them into one volume. The book is, however, prohibitively expensive for non-institutional buyers.
Of special note is the preface, newly written for this edition, in which Humphrey pays tribute to his mentoring professors at the University of Tennessee and Tulane. In so doing he also provides insight into his own personal philosophy and approach to the history of economic thought.

This is a companion volume to Humphrey's earlier collection: Money, Banking, and Inflation (also published by Elgar). By an eminent historian of economic thought, the book, in the words of the publisher, "addresses key concepts, theories and tools in the area of money, exchange and production which have proved indispensable to the development of economics. Each essay focuses on a prominent theory or tool, examines its essential elements, identifies its origins and traces its development across a succession of economists, problems, controversies and applications."

Of all the essays on economic thought that I have read, this is by far the finest collection I have seen. Not only are all of his theories accompanied by precise graphs, but this also makes a swell gift. On a cold night, I love to curl up to a fire of burning Andy Jacksons and this book, along with a stiff drink. A classic for the ages!

The Other Side of the Coin makes us step back and rethink previously held views in a straight forward, common sense approach. Did we get these views from our parents, our church, our government, the TV? It makes us ask ourselves why we hold on to them and if they are still valid.

A "must read" for those who want to be informed and challenged.

The Other Side of the Coin is an empowering book that cuts through veils of financial deception in a frank and open manner. I recommend this book to anyone who is seeking a basic understanding of the economic realities that shape our world. The contents are categorized into ten chapters that stand on their own. This book has been a valuable addition to my library; it is set up for quick reference and hasn't been given the opportunity to collect dust on my shelf. Lest I forget to mention humor, let me now say that while reading this book, Barbra Alexander`'s antics brought me to tears of laughter from cover to cover. With ample personality, Alexander holds no punches as she swiftly points out the flaws of our credit crazed economy. Whether it be corporate bean counters or bumbling governmental bureaucrates, the author dishes out honest criticisms where they are due. The Other Side of the Coin embodies an independent spirit that is all to often excluded from cultural and economic debates.

Made me laugh. Barbra Alexander takes a whip and a chair and tames those silly notions that money is sacred.

One of the most common (mis)interpretations of the east Asian currency crises of the late 1990s is that they were caused by George Soros and other speculators, hedge fund principals for the most part, who shorted those currencies and the respective bonds in order to create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I was happy to se that Mr. Pettis knows better. He writes that he was in regular contact with three large macro hedge funds in 1997, in his capacity as an emerging markets specialist for Bear Stearns, "including the most famous of these, and our discussions about Asia generally centered on ways to gain protected access to LONG rupiah positions. There was very little interest in shorting the currency."

Indonesia and its rupiah provides a particularly vivid example of the capital structure trap that Pettis adumbrates so admirably in this book.

Michael Pettis has succeeded in mystifying the collapse of EM economies. His approach is new and indeed very methodical. I found the book intellectually challenging and have learned quite a lot reading it. I highly recommend it for those who want to understand how LDC economies rise and fall. Having a background in corpporate finance is crucial to enjoying the book though.

This is a MUST READ for institutional investors worldwide! For the first time I have a confident sense of what is at the core of emerging market instability. Now if only some government policy makers would read this (even they would understand it!), the causal conditions might start to improve.