Monetary Policy – This Time It’s Different

By Bryan Beatty, CFP®

So it seems we have entered into a new paradigm. We have reached a place where money printing (or digitizing to be accurate) has become the "new normal". But is it ... normal or is it dangerous? There is a battle of economic ideology taking place in the US, England, the EU as well as Japan. Some call it "stimulus" some call it Keynesian, some Monetarism and more recently "QE" or quantitative easing. So are sovereigns of the world engaged in a dangerous economic experiment?

This isn't the first time that a country has turned to the printing press to solve a debt problem. It isn't always popular to point out the dangers of easy money and it is almost always impossible to point out its effects until it is too late.

In “Early Speculative Bubbles and Increases in the Supply of Money” Doug French , Senior Editor at Laissez Faire Club , points to the fact that what's eluded historians is the same issue that eludes commentators today: the underlying cause of bubbles. The author examines not only the Mississippi Bubble but also the life and monetary theories of its architect, John Law. He is credited with creating the first Keynesian style monetary system in France nearly two hundred years before Keynes was born. At the same time across the English Channel, a nearly bankrupt British government looked on with envy at Law’s system, believing that he was working a financial miracle. It was anything but this and investors in both countries were devastated.

What can we learn from history? How does our understanding of money differ today? Is there some new understanding that makes us think that somehow this time it is different?

Join us for this incredibly informative look at Money Banking and Inflation May 23rd at the Bethesda Country Club. 2 CFP, 2 CIMA, 2 VA Insurance and 2 MD Insurance CE credits are approved for this program, and 2 CPA CPE are offered.