One-Month Money

One-Month Money proposes changes to our monetary system that would end unemployment and inflation without the need for government or central bank stimulus. The book is based on an economic concept known as "neutral money". When money is neutral, it does not interfere with the workings of the underlying real economy. The book's most contentious change is money expiration, which means that our wages have to be either spent or saved before the end of each month, otherwise they expire. As radical as this change may seem, the need to think of bold solutions to our monetary problems is more urgent today than ever. Just as Japan did two decades ago, many developed nations of the West are entering a period of secular stagnation, a situation of high savings and low investment opportunities where sustained government deficit spending will be the only way to avoid persistently high unemployment. In the current system, our best solution for secular stagnation is one of permanent government stimulus, and in a world where debt is seen as inherently sinful, can we really trust policymakers to act appropriately? And even if politicians do pinch their noses and dive into stimulus, do we really want to stomach the high levels of waste and inefficiency that come with government control? Do we want to grow our government debt to 230 per cent of GDP, as Japan has, to ward off another depression? Neutral money, on the other hand, bypasses the government altogether. The proposed system guarantees that private sector demand is always strong enough to hire all willing workers. There will be no more business cycles, meaning that our economies will no longer swing from periods of high unemployment to high inflation. Neutral money would also reduce inequality, alleviating one of the most pressing issues of our time without reverting to the usual left wing tonics of unions and fiscal redistribution.