Abstract

A Modest Proposal for a Private International Monetary System

Much interest has been generated in recent years regarding the feasibility, practicability, and, indeed, necessity of development of a private competitive money system, relatively free of central government interference. The practical means of actually achieving a world system of competitive private monies has become even more eminent with the great advantages in electronic funds transfer. The proposal set forth by the author is for an international private competitive money system based upon the use of the presently existing credit cards. It would be possible to simply convert the present international credit cards such as Carte Blanche, Visa, and American Express into independent competing money units. This credit/ debit card would “circulate” just as paper curency, but the official government money would no longer have a monopoly as the only unit of monetary account. A novel “Social Services” card is suggested as the vehicle for distribution of government welfare benefits. This card would be the only government monies, and would compete directly with the private money cards. This would tend to place a limit on the central government’s ability to inflate the currency in order to pay for budget deficits