@GeorgeSelgin (Twitter)

Read it now, and help me prevent it from happening; or read it later, and wonder why we let it happen:

Thread: 3 wrong theories of bank money creation: (1) An ordinary bank must wait for reserves (deposits) to come its way in order to make loans; if they seem to maintain an 5% reserve ratio, then they can only lend 95% or deposits received.

OK, my first thread on misconceptions about the history of bank-issued paper currency, motivated by claims that history shows that the private market can't be entrusted with supplying currency of any sort, including digital currency. Here I deal w/ antebellum U.S. experience.

"The private sector is not involved in creating the money supply, that’s something the central bank does.” Huh? Most "money" is supplied by the private sector; and no-one would be speaking of "digital" dollars were it not for private-market innovation.

Spicy quotes from #JeromePowell and @benbernanke on #QE (3/3)

. @GeorgeSelgin defines fiscal quantitative easing as "any large-scale central bank asset purchases undertaken not for strictly macroeconomic purposes but for the sake of either propping up particular firms or markets or funding particular government programs" (2/3)

A very interesting little book on contemporary monetary policy : The Menace of Fiscal QE, by @GeorgeSelgin (1/3) @CatoInstitute @CatoCMFA https://amazon.com/dp/1948647931/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_75AIEb93V38Y0

Just saying, if you want someone to break up group think on the Fed who's thoughtful about the gold standard, there are lots around. e.g. @GeorgeSelgin .

The Austrian cycle theory would command much more respect than it does today were it not for amateur Austrians' tendency to attribute every boom to easy money and to predict 100 "inevitable" crashes for every actual crash.

I enjoyed talking #payments w/ @CatoCMFA @GeorgeSelgin on the @FedSoc @FedSocRTP live podcast. Check it out to hear how we can reduce income inequality simply by mandating the US speed up payment clearing to what the UK did in 2007.