Dear Friends of AMI,

Elizabeth and I have just returned from our South West speaking trip and can report a substantial and deep interest in monetary reform.

We were hosted at a breakfast meeting with University of Kansas, Economics Professor Randall Wray and found ourselves in agreement with two out of three of our proposed monetary reforms and shall continue to work on agreement on the last third. Randall thinks that banks should be able to continue to create money – we don’t!

Hi Stephen,

Congratulations on your trip.

I could not agree more with Randall Wray on the matter of allowing the banks to create near-money, but not for government use! Otherwise you are not just confining them to banking – a useful art but one that needs control – but reducing them to the intermediaries they claim to be. So who would distribute credit created in the commercial world? The government?

Both on tactical grounds and on principle more nations must reclaim money creation (as opposed to near-money creation which is lending money into existence rather than spending it into existence as the government can do). And of course on basic principle, we cannot consent to their continuing in control of the other "financial pillars" and highjacking their liquidity pools to use as pyramided money bases for their own multiplier of money creation. Give the banks a limited time to dispose of their non-banking interests that they have taken unto themselves that are incompatible with banking.

I do not remember noting your touching upon the theme in your great book. Let us have a workshop on it. During the Depression when Ford and Edison and a whole list of industrialists were despairing publicly of where the financial community had led them. In that way, 100% money came into vogue. But surely the negative lessons of the Soviet Union – as well as certain positive ones should by now be assimilated. Discussing this will make it a better conference rather than a lesser one.

From 29/09/05 to 02/10/05 at the Essex Inn in Chicago, the 2005 Monetary conference of the American Monetary Institute will be held. Stephen Zarlenga, author of The Lost Science of Money in his call for the conference emphasizes that "it is time to move forward to implement those elements that we know must be a part of good reform. What are the broad national parameters supported by over 3000 years of history? That the control of money systems should shift away from private control toward governmental control, away from commodity money notions and away from monetizing private credits and loaning them into circulation at interest, toward money directly issued interest free by government and spent into circulation for the common good. The system must be morally grounded in fairness.

"Extensive question and answer periods and panel discussions can air doubts and suggest refinements: Comment will be invited on a proposed monetary reform bill which attendees will receive in advance."

"The Conference is at Chicago’s Essex Inn at 800 South Michigan Avenue. Overlooking Grant Park and Lake Michigan. We’ve obtained an outstanding group rate for downtown Chicago as low as $125 single and $67 per person for 2-bed double occupancy.

Speakers from the across the US, Canada and the UK. About 18 individual presentations, five panel discussions and one general evaluation are scheduled. Congressman Dennis Kucinich from Cleveland will address the assembly on the prospect of such reforms. All details can be found on www.monetary.org/2005conference.

- from Economic Reform, July 2005