[![Alt-M: Ideas for an alternative monetary future](/build/cato_2020/images/alt-m.svg)](/alt-m) June 10, 2015 6:32AM # Alternatives to Central Banking: Toward Free-Market Money By Tom Clougherty --- SHARE ![monetary policy, monetary reform, gold standard, bitcoin, cryptocurrency](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Cato-Journal-Alternatives-to-Central-Banking1.jpg?itok=2II-m-u_) According to many experts, the Federal Reserve’s discretionary policies didn’t just fail to prevent the Great Depression of the 1930s, the stagflation of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and the Great Recession of 2009. Instead, the Fed’s policies directly contributed to each dismal episode. So it’s only natural to ask whether we could do better. Could a rules-based, free-market monetary system—one which is spontaneous, self-regulating, and independent of government meddling—serve us better than the existing fiat standard? And if that’s the case, how could we get from here to there? The [latest issue of the *Cato Journal*](http://www.cato.org/cato-journal/springsummer-2015), containing the proceedings of [Cato’s 32nd Annual Monetary Conference: Alternatives to Central Banking: Toward Free-Mark Money](http://www.cato.org/events/32nd-annual-monetary-conference), addresses these very questions. Its papers examine the constitutional basis for alternatives to central banking, the role of gold in a market-based monetary system, the obstacles to fundamental reform and how they might be overcome, the advent of cryptocurrencies, and much else besides. Highlights from the conference proceedings include [Axel Leijonhufvud’s](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-1.pdf) look at expansionary monetary policy’s effects on resource allocation and the distribution of income, [Norbert Michel’s](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-9.pdf) strategy for implementing a rules-based monetary framework, and the very different views of [Edwin Viera Jr.](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-3.pdf), [Jerry L. Jordan](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-4.pdf), and [George Selgin](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-5.pdf) concerning the prospects for a revived gold standard. In addition to the conference proceedings the issue features original articles by [Peter Bernholz](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-14.pdf) on the de-pegging of the Swiss Franc, and by [Tyler Watts and Lukas Snyder](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-15.pdf) on the resource costs of irredeemable paper money. Here is a complete listing of the articles: - [Monetary Muddles](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-1.pdf) by Axel Leijonhufvud - [Money and Banking: A Constitutional Perspective](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-2.pdf) by Walker F. Todd - [Gold and Silver as Constitutional Alternative Currencies](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-3.pdf) by Edwin Viera Jr. - [The Role of Gold in a Market-Based Monetary System](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-4.pdf) by Jerry L. Jordan - [Law, Legislation and the Gold Standard](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-5.pdf) by George Selgin - [Fix What Broke: Building an Orderly and Ethical International Monetary System](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-6.pdf) by Judy Shelton - [Transitioning Standards of Value in Fixed-Value Monetary Systems](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-7.pdf) by Nathan Lewis - [An Agenda for Monetary Action](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-8.pdf) by James Grant - [A Roadmap to Monetary Policy Reforms](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-9.pdf) by Norbert Michel - [A Private Committee for Monetary Reform: Process and Substance](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-10.pdf) by Gerald P. O’Driscoll Jr. - [The Bitcoin Revolution](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-11.pdf) by Bennett T. McCallum - [Bitcoin Will Bite the Dust](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-12.pdf) by Kevin Dowd and Martin Hutchinson - [The Market for Cryptocurrencies](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-13.pdf) by Lawrence H. White - [The Swiss Experiment: From the Lower Bound to Flexible Exchange Rates](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-14.pdf) by Peter Bernholz - [Current Evidence on the Resource Costs of Irredeemable Paper Money](http://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-15.pdf) by Tyler Watts and Lukas Snyder The *Cato Journal*, a valuable resource for public policy scholars that’s also accessible to the non-specialist reader, is published three times a year: Spring/​Summer, Fall, and Winter. To subscribe, please [visit the Cato Institute’s online store.](http://store.cato.org/cato-journal) ##### Disclaimer This post was originally published at Alt‑M.org. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Cato Institute. 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