Journal of Financial Stability Vol. 17 2015
Synthetic commodity money
Abstract
The conventional dichotomy of “commodity” and “fiat” base monies overlooks a third possibility that shares some features of each. This third type, which I call “synthetic commodity money,” resembles fiat money in having no nonmonetary value; but it resembles commodity money in being not just contingently but absolutely scarce. I discuss some actual examples of synthetic commodity monies, and then argue that special characteristics of synthetic commodity money are such as might allow such a money, if properly designed, to supply the foundation for a monetary regime that does not require oversight by any monetary authority, yet is able to provide for a high degree of macroeconomic stability.
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jfs.2014.07.002
- Volume
- 17
- Pages
- 92-99
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref