Renewing the Search for a Monetary Constitution: Reforming Government’s Role in the Monetary System

50 years ago, an important volume, In Search of a Monetary Constitution, was published, focusing on the need for a monetary constitution―constraints on the creation of money by the government. Today, the work's analysis, overlooked at the time, has proven to be remarkably prescient. In this new collection, commemorating the volume's 50th anniversary, the subject is fully updated and re-energized. Since its publication, central banks have delivered neither sound money nor real growth; instead, chronic inflation and a series of booms and busts have prevailed. As a result, calls for monetary reform have re-emerged, centered around the debate over creating constitutional provisions that empower government vs. provisions that prohibit the government interference with money. This new volume seeks to spark a new discussion of the vital issue of constitutional monetary reform.

Lawrence H. White is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute. Best known for his work on free banking, White is the author of The Clash of Economic Ideas (2012), The Theory of Monetary Institutions (1999), Free Banking in Britain (2nd ed., 1995), and Competition and Currency (1989).

Viktor J. Vanberg is Senior Research Fellow, Chairman of the Board, and former Director of the Walter Eucken Institute in Freiburg-im-Breisgau, Germany. He was for many years Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Freiburg, and previously Professor of Economics at George Mason University.

Ekkehard A. Köhler is Research Fellow at the Walter Eucken Institute.​