I’m extremely excited to announce a new project that I have recently gotten involved with.
As anyone who has read my writings over the years knows, I am a believer in the economic theories of the German-Argentinian economist Silvio Gesell. I first became aware of Gesell in 2007 through reading Keynes. In his book, The General Theory — inarguably the most influential economics book of the 20th century — Keynes spent five pages discussing Gesell. Having majored in economics and worked in the financial industry, I asked myself why I had never heard of Gesell before. The fact that Keynes devoted so much space in his magnum opus to discussing an economist I had never even heard of struck me as significant. So I decided to learn more.
In the years I spent working in the financial industry, I often pondered the subject of money — i.e. what is it? where does it come from? how does it work? If I was being honest with myself, I had to admit that I couldn’t answer any of these questions. Here I was working at the most prestigious investment bank in the world, and I didn’t even know what money was. And as I talked with my co-workers, it became clear to me that none of them knew either. How could it possibly be the case that the smartest people in the financial industry couldn’t answer such a basic, foundational question about the industry in which they worked?
Apparently the only difference between me and the people around me was that I was bothered by the fact that I couldn’t answer such a basic question. This was the beginning of my disillusionment with elite institutions. Working with the “Masters of the Universe”, I expected to find arrogance, selfishness and greed, but what I didn’t expect to find was complete ignorance and disinterest in the most basic foundations of the economic system.
Gesell’s book revealed to me for the first time the true nature of money. His presentation was so straightforward and clear that I couldn’t understand how I had never heard anything like it before. As I learned more, I became increasingly convinced that Gesell’s proposals held the secret to creating a fairer, more vibrant and robust economic system. Here, for the first time, I found a logical, compelling explanation of why our existing economic arrangements consistently lead to inequality, poverty and recurring episodes of speculation, excess, stagnation and collapse.
The more I learned, the stronger became my desire to get involved. But how?
I decided to make a trip back to my college to talk with my favorite economics professor. I wanted to know his opinions of Gesell. When we started talking I was surprised to find that my professor had never heard of Gesell. This was my first clue about just how far from the mainstream these ideas were taking me.
For the next decade-plus, I continued to read, research and write about Gesell. I wanted desperately to find someone who could help me achieve a better understanding of how these ideas fit into the broader context of mainstream economic thought. Every time I would come across a mention of Gesell in an article or a book, I would write an email to the writer asking for guidance or advice about how to connect with others who were actively engaged with Gesell’s ideas. And, time after time, I received curt responses telling me that nobody knew or cared about Gesell in the field of modern economics.
Finally, about a year ago, I wrote to a German economics professor who had written an article about Gesell, and I got a warm, welcoming reply. Through him, I have now become part of a worldwide network of “Gesellians” with members in Argentina, Chile, Germany, England, France, Japan and Australia. (Interestingly, I still have yet to find anyone in the United States who know or cares about Gesell.)
Among this growing network, I recently connected with an Argentinian economist/lawyer named Carlos Louge who has been actively promoting Gesell’s ideas since the early 2000s. In fact, he recently founded an institute dedicated to the study and dissemination of Gesell’s ideas and published a book (in Spanish) examining the links between Keynes and Gesell. He was looking for help with translating the book and getting it published in English. I eagerly volunteered my services.
In the past couple months, I have become more and more involved with this group. And, as one of the few native English speakers among their ranks, I am in a position to help them make inroads in the English speaking world.
Toward that end, I volunteered to build and manage an English-language facebook page for the institute. There is already a vibrant and active online community engaged in discussing, disseminating and implementing Gesell’s ideas, but unfortunately most of their work thus far is in Spanish and is therefore inaccessible to anyone who only speaks English.
So, I invite anyone reading this to check out the new English-language facebook page for The Silvio Gesell Institute and to join a growing community of folks who are united by a desire to examine the foundations of our economic and monetary systems with the goal of implementing policies which will contribute to building a fairer, more prosperous, more sustainable world.
I have never felt a stronger sense of conviction and purpose about anything. I genuinely believe that Silvio Gesell provided us with a roadmap to a better economic world. Unfortunately the world hasn’t yet recognized Gesell’s gift. Therefore, spreading the deep understanding contained in Gesell’s writings is the most valuable thing I can imagine doing with my time and energy at this point in my life. Having just celebrated my 50th birthday, I feel like I have finally found my life’s work. And I invite you all to join me on this journey. Please check out the facebook page, give it a like and share it with anyone who might be interested. Thanks so much!
Josh, I would like to propose a panel on Silvio Gesell's ideas at a conference at Harvard in June sponsored by Just Money https://justmoney.org/money-as-a-democratic-medium-2-0/
I'm looking for panelists and I think it would be good if you could be one. What do you think?