Though checks' popularity is now waning in favor of electronic payments, checks were, for much of the twentieth century, the most widely used noncash payment method in the United States. How did such a relatively inefficient form of payment become so dominant? This article traces the historical...

This paper deals with the relationship between deflation and economic growth. Although there are numerous theories on the potential effects of deflation on real output, empirical evidence in this field is still scarce and partial. In order to explore the relationship between prices and output in...

In the modern lexicon, money is pure instrumentality, a colorless medium that transparently expresses real value. Contrary to that trope, however, we can get “inside” money: we can reconnoiter it as a structure entailing value that is engineered by certain societies. Taking a...

We use the demise of silver-based standards in the 19th century to explore price dynamics when a commodity-based money ceases to function as a global unit of account. We develop a general equilibrium model of the global economy with gold and silver money. Calibration of the model shows that...

This article contextualizes the rise of cryptocurrency within the historical relationship between money and the state. It begins by asking two simple yet critical questions: What is money and where did it come from? Armed with the answers, the article proceeds by taking a fresh look at...

The gold standard is back in the news following a series of announcements from the Trump Administration indicating that the President was considering candidates for the open positions on the Federal Reserve Board who are sympathetic to the idea of restoring the gold standard. The prospect of...

Global economic trade is often argued to be as old as trade. The question of the nature of the exchange is the issue. While tin from England may have reached Sumeria 4,000 years ago, or Phoenicians' ships entered the Africa area of Cape Palmas at about the same time, the problem of exchange is a...

Global economic trade is often argued to be as old as trade. The question of the nature of the exchange is the issue. While tin from England may have reached Sumeria 4,000 years ago, or Phoenicians' ships entered the Africa area of Cape Palmas at about the same time, the problem of exchange is a...

This article contextualizes the rise of cryptocurrency within the historical relationship between money and the state. It begins by asking two simple yet critical questions: What is money and where did it come from? Armed with the answers, the article proceeds by taking a fresh look at...