To match our newly launched occassional Irish Property Tax Monitor, we think we will do the same for Money Reform. Willem Buiter broke the ice with his musings on negative interest. This new article from the Times On Line suggests that Japan is actually thinking of putting some of Buiter type notions into practice!
My goodness, our Liquidity Network idea is beginning to look a tad boring and lacking in ambition…
….All three ideas are based on a theory concerning interest rates and the concept that a nominal rate of zero — as Japan has now lived with for much of the past decade — may be too high. In Japan’s case, the theory would suggest that nominal rates of -4 per cent might be closer to what is required to rescue the economy from another deflationary spiral. Having agreed that this might be necessary, the next question is how it could be imposed. Link to article
I don’t think demurrage money is a good idea. People will be against having their deposits shrink.
I think http://nationaleconomy.net is a good resource. It takes a different angle than most monetary reform.
I saw the article about Japan earlier. The article doesn’t explain the proposal very well at all. I wish there was a more detailed article.