Currency Reform: a Modest Proposal

Currency reform is a deep-level concept. Few people understand economics, let alone money or how it works, so it is a conversation that lacks traction. Nontheless, currency underlies everything, it is the foundation of the economy, and people seem to get that. They intuitively shy from any major changes or tinkering with the money system, since the potential effects are potentially so large, and are therefore easily opposed with catastrophic imagery.

I believe Ron Paul's campaign suffered from this problem, as he was easily painted as a fringe candidate because of his strident gold standard advocacy. The fact is, such a big change as establishing a gold standard frightens the average person.

I propose that any currency reform must be accomplished in small stages, not only to avoid scaring the average citizen, but also to avoid hardening the opposition of the monetary powers-that-be. There are only a handful of monetary reform camps, and I believe they could all be accomodated in a non-threatening way, which would foster genuine currency improvement for society.

--The Ron Paul libertarian wing seeks to return the US dollar to gold backing.

--The modern-day Greenbackers (such as Ellen Brown) seek an end to the private money supply, ending the Fed, but keeping paper money and giving its control directly to the government, to issue debt-free.

--Community currency advocates (such as Thomas Greco) seek to end federally-mandated legal tender currency, fostering a return to community control of currency, and a free market competition among currencies.

The monopolistic imposition of any one of these monetary reform regimes would likely be impossible to accomplish, as the change would be too great, opposition to general, and support too fragmented.

Rather, I propose implementing all three, simultaneously. Well, naturally, the proposals would need to be scaled back, since they are contradictory in many ways, but the idea is to implement alternative currency schemes, based on those principles, to compete with each other. Thus, it would not be a wholesale repeal of legal tender, a la Greco and the Wildcat Banking Era, but it would expand legal tender to a small number of recognized issues.

Consider the following actions being taken simultaneously, or rolled out successively:
-Greenbacks spent into circulation by the Treasury for federal expenditures
-new Treasury notes issued which are fully backed by gold and silver
-Two regional banks chartered to issue private currencies

Thus, a limited version of currency competition. Nothing threatening the collapse of the current system, just available alternates, an expansion of monetary freedom. Who could oppose that?

Let the best currency win!