Manifesto for a Second Monetarist Revolution

Abstract

The long-playing drama of US monetary instability through its various distinct acts since 1914 has had only few intermissions, all of brief duration. The actors and the plot change over time. Some acts are epic and global in scale. Others are monotonous and largely uneventful. There is no script but perpetual improvisation. And from early on (though not right at the beginning) a wide array of critics have been passing comments, some from the vantage point of live spectators, others as researchers of the historical record. Some of the critics have identified themselves strongly with particular schools of monetary economics. They take issue with the false doctrines or lack of doctrine on the part of Federal Reserve policymakers responsible for the given (actual or historic) monetary turbulence.