Collection of US web sites and organizations endorsing a) the Credit Creation Theory of Current Banking and/or b) full Just Money Reform
There are two important positions that AFJM supports wholeheartedly. Both are foundational for our understanding of monetary theory and our activism for monetary reform. The first foundational issue is our firm understanding that the Credit Creation Theory of Banking is the correct one. The second foundational position is that full Just Money Reform is the best policy to change the current monetary system into one which serves society.
The two positions generate the following categorization under which our ‘positional neighbors’ can be placed:
Categorization
A. Organizations and web sites endorsing both the Credit Creation Theory of Banking and full Sovereign Monetary Reform
B. Organizations and web sites endorsing only the Credit Creation Theory of Banking, but not full Just Money Reform.
C. Organizations and web sites endorsing only Just Money Reform, but endorse a theory other than the Credit Creation Theory of Banking.
D. Organizations and web sites which could be interested in both the correct theory and the right reform.
Most, if not all, descriptive blurbs are from the organizations and web sites themselves. Our own comments are within parentheses.
See further below for a justification of the categorization.
A. Organizations and web sites endorsing both the Credit Creation Theory of Banking and full Just Money Reform
Stephen Zarlenga (founder †); Steven Walsh (director)
The American Monetary Institute (AMI) is a publicly supported charity, founded in 1996 to present the results of our research in a manner understandable by the average citizen; leading to monetary reforms which bring forth a greater level of economic justice and a more equitable and efficient functioning of government.
This field deserves serious study because while attention is usually focused on the elections of presidents, prime ministers, and representatives, the real outcomes in society – whether there will be general economic justice or special financial privileges for the few – are often quietly determined behind the scenes by the structure of a society’s monetary system.
Virginia Hammon
We can have a money system in which our government uses the democratic process established by our Constitution to create our money supply as an asset to the economy and society, rather than as debt to the private bankers. Then we will have the money and the power to achieve the goals set forth in our Constitution.
JUST MONEY NOW! Money that benefits Main Street, We the People and our Planet. Join our grassroots campaign demanding justice in our money system. Citizens and lawmakers, it is time to upgrade from private banker debt-money to public asset money. There is a way to pay for a better world!
The authors of this website recognize that the Green Party Platform has a wonderful and powerful monetary reform plank, which was created by Greens who realized the importance of this issue. The monetary reform plank is called “Greening the Dollar”. It contains the three essential changes that must happen for monetary reform to succeed. These same three essential changes are also found in Dennis Kucinich’s NEED ACT—HR2990, which was presented to Congress in 2011. The authors of this website realize that many Greens may not be aware what the monetary reform plank in the platform is about. Since the existence of our money system is kept so secret and mysterious, it is not surprising that Greens, like the rest of our society, may be unaware of the absolute significance of the money system to all our lives.
Center for Progressive Economics
Mark Pash
The progressive economic philosophy is designed to advance human commerce for the betterment of all, while protecting the business environment from itself and the government. Commerce is not perfect and is vulnerable to both human nature and the major flaws of capitalism. The government has to counter the flaws of capitalism, without hindering the market place, and provide a level playing field to insure competition as it facilitates the favorable elements of growth.
Uli Kortsch
Web site dedicated to 1) Inform, connect, and give a voice to the public; 2) Raise awareness of the connections between our current monetary and banking system and the biggest social, economic, and environmental challenges of today; 3) Promote real and viable improvements to our economic and financial system; and 4) Fight for a sustainable system that works for rather than against society
Dan Sullivan
Money is a common medium of exchange, without which modern production and exchange methods are impossible. Government, which demands money in taxes or as payment against necessary privileges, violates its charge if it forces taxpayers to resort to privately created money, and further violates its charge if it guarantees the value of privately created money or credit. Government’s demand for money requires that it issue enough money to satisfy the demand for money, and that newly issued money be distributed in a way that is fair to all citizens. Government should issue enough money to maintain stable prices, with neither significant inflation nor deflation. However, it is even more important that government issue money directly into circulation rather than lending it to banks or granting banks the privilege of lending money they do not actually have.
Steven Walsh
This site is dedicated to the learning of how money is created and put to use in society. Not only are individuals invited to visit, and make use of this site, but teachers/instructors, too, who want their students to have a foundational understanding of how money is created and comes into society. As one considers that money is in many ways the life blood of society it becomes apparent there is a sense of civic education and social fairness that is inherently involved. The intent of this site is for visitors to develop their own monetary philosophy.
Jeff Eder
The money creation process is a powerful tool that could be used to benefit the majority of Canadians, whereas now it mainly benefits the financial elites at the top. It could be used to increase funding for the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, infrastructure, education, heath, and other social services.
Ralph Musgrave
Commentaries (some of them cheeky or provocative) on economic topics by Ralph Musgrave. This site is dedicated to Abba Lerner. I disagree with several claims made by Lerner, and made by his intellectual descendants, that is advocates of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). But I regard MMT on balance as being a breath of fresh air for economics. (Note: The position of AFJM on MMT is quite critical. See here)
Mari Werner
This site is devoted to exposing the flawed structure of our money and banking system and bringing an understanding of the situation to the ordinary people who are affected by it every day. It’s also here to suggest that the human race could do better, and to encourage some of the better ideas that have already been advanced.
B. Organizations and web sites endorsing only the Credit Creation Theory of Banking, but not (yet) full Just Money Reform.
Public Banking Institute
Public banking is banking operated in the public interest, through institutions owned by the people through their representative governments. Public banks can exist at all levels, from local to state to national or even international. Any governmental body which can meet local banking requirements may, theoretically, create such a financial institution.
Andy Chalkley
Collection of articles and historical documents addressing the money power and its faults.
Ronald E Davis, PhD
Debt-free Hybrid Public Money Solution provides funding for Infrastructure, Disaster Relief, Federal Deficit and National Debt reductions while accelerating GDP growth and increasing employment!
Dan Rohde (editor)
On this website, we approach money as a legal project. Created to meet demands both public and private, money depends on law for its definition, issue, and operation. That legal structure of money – its design – matters deeply. In the words attributed to an early banker, “those who create and issue money . . . direct the policies of government and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.” Our aim is to encourage discussion, debate, and scholarship on money’s design and its reform towards a world that is as just as it is (economically) productive.
Rethinking Economics is an international network of students, academics and professionals building a better economics in society and the classroom.
Through a mixture of campaigning, events and engaging projects, Rethinking Economics connects people globally to discuss and enact the change needed for the future of economics, and to propel the vital debate on what economics is today.
One of its campaigns is to make the economics profession to rethink the role of banks and correct economics textbooks
Rev. Delman Coates
Our Money (OM) is a financial education and policy initiative designed to educate the public about the structure and social consequences of the nation’s monetary system, and advocates for monetary reforms that lead to an economic system that works for the benefit of all people. A foundational principle of the campaign is that “in order to have a just society, we (as a nation) must have a just monetary system.” (OM bases its monetary theory on MMT. The position of AFJM on MMT is quite critical. See here)
This website offers policy advice and economic analysis from a group of professional economists, legal scholars, and financial market practitioners . We started this blog in order to weigh in on the serious challenges facing the global economy following the financial meltdown in 2007. We aim to provide an accurate description of the cause(s) of the current meltdown as well as some fresh ideas about how policymakers — here and abroad — should address to the continued weakness in their economies. (NEP promotes MMT. The position of AFJM on MMT is quite critical. See here).
Rohan Grey
The Modern Money Network (“MMN”) aims to bring accurate and accessible knowledge of monetary and financial systems to the broader public. (MMN promotes MMT. The position of AFJM on MMT is quite critical. See here).
American Banker is the essential resource for senior executives in banking and financial services, keeping its users updated on vital developments and focusing sharply on their most important concerns — innovation, transformation, and disruption; technology, regulation, and reform. (The ABA did not support the Swiss initiative for sovereign monetary reform, but seems to concede the process of bank credit creation).
C. Organizations and web sites endorsing only Just Money Reform, and another theory than the Credit Creation Theory of Banking.
Patrick S.J. Carmack, J.D. & Bill Still
The Money Masters is a 3 1/2 hour non-fiction, historical documentary that traces the origins of the political power structure. The modern political power structure has its roots in the hidden manipulation and accumulation of gold and other forms of money. The development of fractional reserve banking practices in the 17th century brought to a cunning sophistication the secret techniques initially used by goldsmiths fraudulently to accumulate wealth. With the formation of the privately-owned Bank of England in 1694, the yoke of economic slavery to a privately-owned “central” bank was first forced upon the backs of an entire nation. (Endorses the Fractional Reserve or Deposit Multiplier Theory of Banking).
D. Organizations and web sites which could be interested in both the theory and the reform.
The National Organization for Raw Materials (NORM)
The health, robustness, and sustainability of the American economy is directly tied to the production of raw materials and the price at which those raw materials first enter into commercial channels. When raw materials enter trade channels at prices in balance with the prices of labor and capital, the economy operates on an earned-income basis with no buildup of public and private debt. Conversely, when raw materials enter trade channels at less-than-parity prices with labor and capital, the economy lacks sufficient earned dollars to operate on an debt-free basis, therefore, public and private debt accumulates. That simple explanation of raw material economics explains why America today suffers from more than $50-trillion in public and private debt and why much of it is unserviceable.
Postal Banking is simply the provision of low-cost, consumer-driven financial services via the Postal Service. Products and services could range from check cashing to bill payment to savings accounts to small-dollar loans. Postal Banking will benefit consumers who do not have access to traditional banks as well as those who would prefer a more public option. Every other developed country in the world has postal banking. The expansion of services would also strengthen our public Postal Service.
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV)
The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) is a network of banking leaders from around the world committed to advancing positive change in the banking sector. Our collective goal is to change the banking system so that it is more transparent, supports economic, social and environmental sustainability, and is composed of a diverse range of banking institutions serving the real economy.
The New Economy Coalition is a membership-based network representing the solidarity economy movement in the United States. We exist to organize our members into a more powerful and united force, in order to accelerate the transition of our economic system from capitalism to a solidarity economy.
NEC’s members are a cross section of nonprofits, mission-driven businesses, grassroots community organizations, and sectoral associations. While many groups are focused on a particular strategy or are based in a specific geographic region, they join NEC to be part of a network that is cross-sectoral and national in scope. Together, we understand ourselves as part of an international social movement ecosystem that includes tens of thousands of groups using varied and different strategies to build a more just, liberatory, and democratic world. (No indication that monetary theory or reform are addressed)
Justification for the categorization of our neighboring organizations
As stated at the top of this page, there are two important understandings that AFJM uses to categorize itself and align or distinguish itself from other organizations. The first understanding is that AFJM acknowledges the Credit Creation Theory of Banking. It is this theory that most correctly explains our present-day worldwide monetary system. The second understanding is that AFJM believes in full Just Money Reform.
The Credit Creation Theory of Banking [2,6] not only explains how the current system works, but also explains best why the current monetary system creates so many problems in the form of systemic financial crises with overt and hidden bank runs, economic inequality, and high levels of government, corporate and private debt. This debt leads economists and politicians towards austerity and the blocking of necessary solutions to societal problems. Based on a plethora of economic research and models, we believe that the only viable, long-term solution to the ills of the current system is full Just Money Reform [2,5,7].
Credit Creation Theory of Banking
The Credit Creation Theory of Banking shows us how the money in circulation (93-97%) originates with banks when they approve loans. No original customer deposits are needed. The liability to the lender of the amount lent is balanced in the bank’s books by recording the loan agreement as an asset. After the empirical research by Richard Werner [6] and the admissions in publications by the Bank of England [3,4] and the International Monetary Fund [1], this theory has become increasingly the accepted, mainstream one.
The alternative theories are the Financial Intermediation Theory (banks loan out already existing money deposited by savers) and the Deposit Multiplier Theory (with a hypothetical reserve requirement of 10%, a bank can loan out 90% of a deposit, which is then deposited back into the banking system, which is considered new money by which the receiving bank can loan out 90% of that deposit, with the aggregate effect that the total money supply increases).
Sovereign Monetary Reform
The second understanding is that real monetary reform – that is, implementing a full Just Money System – requires three interconnected changes: 1) banks are forbidden to create the money supply through credit creation; 2) a Monetary Authority (MA), shielded from political and corporate influence, manages the money supply as if it were a utility; and 3) when the MA decides that a certain amount of money can or should be created, it gives congress the green light to spend new, debt-free money into the economy according to its own democratic procedures [8]. In this system, if the government loans money into circulation and earns the interest, that would be one example of the government obtaining the seigniorage, and therefore, it is acceptable. If the government decided to give new money coming into circulation to all citizens equally, it would also be acceptable to share equally the seigniorage benefit.
The alternative policy proposals are deficit spending on hopefully worthy policies and then, when inflation kicks in, tax the inflation away (MMT); Credit Guidance, i.e., put regulations on banks to guide them in their credit allocations (Werner); or minimum capital ratios, i.e., setting higher equity reserve requirements (Basel III; Bank for International Settlements). Though possibly ameliorating the system, we think that all these policies are mere band-aids and that the system needs a radical, three-pronged overhaul.
Categorization
Because the organizations and web sites we looked into have sometimes very different and complex positions on the banking system and its possible reform, we decided to categorize them according to our own two basic positions with the two leading questions: 1) does the organization ascribe to the Bank Credit Theory, or not?; and 2) does the organization ascribe to full Just Money Reform, or not? This manner of organizing generates four possible positions, best captured in the ‘double polarity quadrant’ below.
A. Organizations and web sites that use the Credit Creation Theory of Banking to explain the present, dysfunctional banking system and embrace full Just Money Reform to correct it.
B. Organizations and web sites that use the Credit Creation Theory of Banking to explain the present banking system, but do not support full Just Money Reform.
C. Organizations and web sites supporting full Just Money Reform, but support some other theory than the Credit Creation Theory of Banking.
D. Organizations and web sites which could be interested in both the correct theory of the present banking system and full Just Money Reform.
Double polarity quadrant
Quadrant of possibilities
Monetary Reform
No Monetary Reform
Correct Monetary Theory
A. AMI, AFJM
B. PBI, MMT
Incorrect or no Monetary Theory
C. Money Masters
D. GABV, NEC
Sources
For a list with non-US organizations promoting Just Money Reform consult the membership roster of the International Movement for Monetary Reform (IMMR).
[1]. Jakab, Zoltan & Kumhof, Michael. 2014. “Models of Banking: Loanable Funds or Loans that Create Funds?“. International Monetary Fund.
[2]. Kumhof, Michael & Benes, Jaromir. 2012. “The Chicago Plan Revisited.” IMF Working Papers 12/202. Washington: International Monetary Fund.
[3]. McLeay, Michael & Radia, Amar & Thomas, Ryland. 2014a. “Money Creation in the Modern Economy”. Monetary Analysis Directorate. Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin (Q1, 2014): 14-27.
[4]. McLeay, Michael & Radia, Amar & Thomas, Ryland. 2014b. “Money in the modern economy: an introduction”. Monetary Analysis Directorate. Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin (Q1 2014): 4-13.
[5]. Van Egmond, Nicolas D. & de Vries, Bert J.M. 2016. “Dynamics of a sustainable financial-economic system”. Sustainable Finance Lab Working Paper. Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
[6]. Werner, Richard A. 2016. “A Lost Century in Economics: Three Theories of Banking and the Conclusive Evidence“. International Review of Financial Analysis, 46 (July 2016): 361-379.
[7]. Yamaguchi, Kaoru. 2010. “On the Liquidation of Government Debt under A Debtfree Money System: Modeling the American Monetary Act”. In Proceedings of the 28th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Seoul, Korea, 2010. The System Dynamics Society.
[8]. Zarlenga, Stephen. 2014 (2006). “Presenting the American Monetary Act / The 32-Page Brochure”. Valatie, NY: American Monetary Institute.