Efficient Macro Concept

The United States has had a tumultuous history when it comes to money and banking. The bitter Bank War of the 1830s meant that the country never developed a central bank in the 1800s. The pre-Civil War monetary standard was deflationary until the fortuitous California gold discovery. Political turmoil erupted later in the century over whether the government should freely coin silver. Meanwhile, Congress implemented a banking system that virtually drove bank reserves into stock market speculation. Even when the Federal Reserve was finally established in 1913, it was decentralized and failed to effectively respond to the Great Depression. Through this history emerges the story of a money supply increasingly managed by central banking authorities - as well as one increasingly nationalized with the end of the gold standard. Efficient Macro Concept: U.S. Monetary, Industrial, and Foreign Exchange Policies Past and Future recounts this narrative to show that the next step in historical progress is a program of industrial and foreign exchange policy options focused on driving real growth in the economy. The answer to the weak U.S. growth of the twenty-first century is the development of specialized institutions and transactions that are rooted in the tradition of central banking but that are also flexible and compatible with a market economy and balanced budgets.