Money, Markets, and Government: The Next 30 Years

Editor’s Note

This issue of the

Cato Journal

features the papers from Cato’s

30th Annual Monetary Conference—

Money, Markets, and

Govern ment: The Next 30 Years

—which was held in Washington

on November 15, 2012. After 30 years, it is well to recall F. A. Hayek’s

advice: “All those who wish to stop the drift toward increasing govern-

ment control should concentrate their effort on monetary policy.”

The articles in this volume address the links between money, mar-

kets, and government, and how those links might evolve in the future.

One path is to continue the present course and use discretionary cen-

tral banks to monetize government debt, allocate credit, and distort

interest rates. An alternative path is to limit the size and scope of gov-

ernment, adopt a rules-based monetary regime, and let free capital

markets allocate credit. The choice of monetary and fiscal policy

regimes will determine whether economic and social harmony will

spontaneously emerge or government power will continue to grow.

 

http://www.cato.org/cato-journal/fall-2013