Hat tip to James Robertson. This Act could be written instead for the ECB. It goes further that the NMT or Chartalist prescription by removing all of the right to create money from the private banking sector giving it, not to government but to an arms length entity. The outcome is broadly similar to that proposed by Auerbach and Mosler – governments get to spend money without borrowing. Here is a snippet…
Preventing Banks Creating Money
Our first step then is to prevent banks from creating money each time they issue a loan. This step is actually remarkably simple – we just set a ‘universal rule’ that banks can only credit (put money into) an account if they simultaneously debit (take money out of) another account by the same amount. As is explained in this guide, this prevents money being created (or destroyed) within the banking system.
Creating a Public Source of New Money
However, up to now the banking sector has been increasing the money supply by an average of 8% each year. While this growth rate is almost certainly too high, a growing economy does still require an injection of new money each year, in the same way that a car requires the regular addition of oil to keep everything running smoothly.
Consequently, our second step is to give the Bank of England the power and responsibility to manage the money supply and create new money as and when the economy is judged to need it. We implement strict measures to separate control of the money supply from any political influence, and further strict measures that significantly reduce the risk of inflation, compared to the existing system.
With new money now being created debt-free by the state, we need to ensure that this money is distributed into the most economically efficient and socially beneficial method possible. We recommend that the money is given to the government as a non-repayable grant, and used to reduce the overall tax burden, phase out the national debt and invest in public infrastructure. Phasing out the national debt has its own complications, and we have made recommendations to deal with these.
