Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Hayek's Plan for Private Money - Robert P. Murphy - Mises Daily

Hayek's Proposal

Hayek argues that, if only government obstacles were removed, the free market would provide the optimal quantity (and variety!) of monetary products. Just as the forces of competition lead to low prices and superior quality in every other line, so too would competition in the "fiat money industry" lead to monies that were infinitely better than their government-produced counterparts. For example, the private monies would be far more stable in their purchasing power, would be harder to counterfeit, and would be available in more convenient denominations.

Although one can imagine an equilibrium situation given that the public is already holding vast quantities of such private currencies, it is difficult to conceive of how they would "get off the ground" in the first place. Here is the most ingenious part of Hayek's proposal (which naturally I am adapting for a modern exposition):

Read Entire Article HERE

No comments:

Post a Comment