Money Without Boundaries

Chapter 14Conclusion

“I'm inclined to think that there's no field so rife with cranks as currency and money.”

– Milton Friedman

At the conclusion of The Denationalization of Money, Hayek presents 10 questions for discussion. These questions provide a fitting way to evaluate money without boundaries, the planck, and the creation of a decentralized self-stabilizing currency, the risk-free rate.

1. “Examine the long-held view that there should be only one currency in a country and that it should be controlled by government. Illustrate your discussion with examples from remote and recent history.”¹
   • There is not one currency in most any country today. You can live in Europe and store your money in dollars or live in America and keep your net worth in yen, but most citizens place their precious savings in trust to their home government's central bank, either in cash or bank deposits. Why citizens do this is a mystery. Since the tether of the gold standard has been removed, governments have been terrible at maintaining price stability. While citizens have a choice – and should opt for a different system, with a different objective – the most plausible reason why they tolerate the destruction of their wealth is the lack of a credible, easy, secure, and transparent alternative.
2. “What are the origins of legal tender? Argue for and against it as the necessary basis of a monetary system.”²
   • “Legal tender” is not a necessary basis of a monetary system.
3. “Define money. How is it distinguished ...