Acton Institute Powerblog Archives

Post Tagged 'currency'

July 26, 2017

The political implications of bitcoin

Prior to the publication of John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, balanced budgets reflected the received wisdom for governments. By making the case for debt spending in times of recession (and the virtually ignored case for restricting spending in times of growth), Keynes gave political leaders a license to abandon the requirement of balance. Continue Reading...
June 13, 2014

An Evangelical College Becomes First in the U.S. to Accept Bitcoin

Christians colleges aren’t usually known for being on the cutting-edge of technology. But The King’s College, an evangelical college located in New York City, is leading the way by becoming the first accredited college in the United States to accept Bitcoin for tuition and other expenses: “The King’s College seeks to transform society by preparing students for careers in which they help to shape and eventually to lead strategic public and private institutions. Continue Reading...
March 05, 2014

Bitcoin is (Nearly) Dead

Last year I wrote a series of blog posts about what Christians should know about Bitcoin. In response, one astute reader pointed out an odd juxtaposition: my conclusion seemed to imply that Christians should avoid Bitcoin “at all cost” and yet the Acton Institute accepts donations in Bitcoin. Continue Reading...
April 17, 2013

Bitcoin as ‘Super Fiat’ Currency

Joe has done us all a real service in putting together his three part (1, 2, 3) primer on Bitcoin (full PDF here). I am curious, though, what the justification is for referring to Bitcoin as a “commodity” currency. Continue Reading...
March 23, 2012

Europe: A Turtle on its Back?

Would dissolving the European common currency, as proposed by the French free-market economist and entrepreneur Charles Gave in his book Libéral mais non coupable (“Liberal But Not Guilty”) free the Old Continent to stand upright on its financial feet again?  Continue Reading...
December 13, 2011

Samuel Gregg: Freedom in a Post-Euro Europe

Acton’s director of research Samuel Gregg is up at Public Discourse, with a piece titled “Monetary Possibilities for a Post-Euro Europe.” With his usual mix of sophisticated economic analysis and reference to deep principles, Gregg considers European countries’ options should the eurozone fail. Continue Reading...
September 10, 2010

Samuel Gregg: Fiat Money and Public Debt

On Public Discourse, Acton Research Director Samuel Gregg looks at fiat money and how today it “represents the end of a long process of development whereby governments have used their power of legal tender to use money to pursue various policy goals.” Continue Reading...
August 25, 2010

Forms of ‘Financial Oppression’

From Marketwatch today, “Morgan Stanley warns on sovereign defaults”: “Outright sovereign default in large advanced economies remains an extremely unlikely outcome,” they said. But bondholders could suffer losses from forms of “financial oppression,” such as repaying debt with devalued currency, the analysts warned. Continue Reading...