Synopsis
Money and Credit, Volume III is the magnum opus written by Prof. Fekete. It is a normal people's guide to money and economics, written for those who want to understand how money works. Written and presented for people with some university background, but also students, its tone and language is universally understandable. It requires no background in mathematics, jargon nor equations. Nevertheless, the latter volumes build on the explanations of the former. Bestselling heterodox austrian economist Antal Fekete draws on the background of the austrian economic tradition, yet knowledge of it is no pre-requisite either. He explains the general principles underlying honest money in readable, yet educated language. He shows a visceral indignation for dishonesty from academics or government in money matters and backs all his claims up in endnotes and references, just like any other academic publisher would do. The interested reader can pursue these further, if so wished. With an unsurpassed erudition on money, banking and international trade, this is the first heterodox series of textbooks outside of mainstream theory for anyone who wishes to understand how a proper economy functions. That is, under a circulating gold coin standard, compared to our present monetary arrangements.
This third volume describes a world without the benefits of a stable interest or discount rate, that is without the stabiliser of gold. Many conundrums can be explained, especially the problem of unemployment and capital destruction (e.g. empty malls, derelict industrial plants, if not cities...) - a far cry from the welfare state intended.
Drawing on a vast erudition and contemporary as well as historical facts, Fekete explains austrian economic principles for the general public in eloquent English. A penetrating study of the inner working of the gold standard. Accessible academic work with bibliography, notes and illustrations.
About the Authors
Antal E. Fekete, Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland, was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1932. He graduated from the Loránt Eötvös University of Budapest in mathematics in 1955. He left Hunga- ry in the wake of the 1956 anti-Communist uprising that was brutally put down by the occupying Soviet troops. He immigrated to Canada in the following year and was appointed Assistant Professor at the Me- morial University of Newfoundland in 1958. In 1993, after 35 years' of service he retired with the rank of Full Professor. During this period he also had tours of duty as visiting professor at Columbia University in the City of New York (1961), Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (1964), Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia (1970), Princeton Universi- ty, Princeton, New Jersey (1974). Since 2005 he has been Professor at Large of Intermountain Institute for Science and Applied Mathematics (IISAM), Missoula, Montana. Professor Fekete is an autodidactic expert on monetary economics. During his associations with various universities and institutions he has done research and lectured on economics. On one such occasion, in 1974, he gave a talk on gold in the seminar of Paul Volcker, then Senior Fellow at Princeton University, soon to be named as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and, later, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. In 1984 Professor Fekete was invited by the American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to spend a year there as Visiting Fellow. He served as Editor of the Monograph Series of the Committee for Monetary Research and Education, then headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, while contributing several monographs to the Series, reproduced on his website. He also acted as Senior Editor for the American Economic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio, and produced the popular pamphlet series Ten Pillars of Sound Money, also reproduced in Volume I of this series. When in 1984 South Africa celebrated the 100th anniversary of discovering gold in the Wit- watersrand, at the conference Gold 100 commemorating that event in Johannesburg, Professor Fekete delivered the keynote address entitled Gold in the International Monetary System, also reproduced on his website. In 1985 Congressman William E. Dannemeyer of Fullerton, Califor- nia, invited Professor Fekete to join his staff in Washington, D.C., to work on fiscal and monetary reform. While on this assignment, last- ing for five years, he gave numerous lectures on Capitol Hill as well as in California. Ultimately the proposals hammered out in Congres- sional offices under his chairmanship were taken to the White House by a delegation of ten Republican Congressmen led by Congressman Dannemeyer. According to these proposals the runaway government deficit could be reined in by refinancing the entire U.S. government debt through issuing gold bonds. The historic meeting took place in the Oval Office in October, 1989, and was duly reported by The New York Times. Having listened attentively to the presentation of Mr. Dannemeyer, President George Bush, Sr., instructed his Treasury Sec- retary, also present at the meeting, to let the Congressional and Treas- ury staff meet and put forward a joint proposal. This initiative came to nought as the Treasury deliberately derailed negotiations through procrastination
Peter van Coppenolle has been an assistant lecturer of Prof. Antal Fekete since 2001. His expertise is predominantly in the establishment of solid protection devices for succession planning, especially suited for needy or disabled loved ones. He is also fellow and honorary board member of Fekete Research Ltd. in London. His predilection is for Greek philosophy and philosophy of mind.
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