For commodity money such as gold, demurrage is the cost of storing and securing the gold. A german entrepreneur who moved to argentina for business in. Bavarian soviet republic and started the creation of freemoney freigeld. Gesammelte werke, band 11 by silvio gesell broschiert, 412 pages, published 2007. The gesell connection during the great depression journal. It attempts to provide a solid basis for economic liberalism in contrast to the 20thcentury trend of collectivism and planned economy. Silvio gesell 18621930, originator of the freigeld concept. Keynes renamed the concept of basic interest articulated in gesells book the. A german entrepreneur who moved to argentina for business in the late 19th century. Grain loses its weight, metal products rust, housing deteroriates. One of best known proposals for avoiding massive paper currency storage when nominal interest rates are negative is silvio gesells proposal for stamped currency. Silvio gesell s most popular book is the natural economic order. The incompleteness of silvio gesells theory is doubtless the explanation of his work having suffered neglect at the hands of the academic world.
Silvio gesell 18621930, originator of the freigeld concept as part of the theory of freiwirtschaft, freigeld free money, german pronunciation. Gesell is not an academic economist laboriously compiling footnotes and bibliographies, and adding statistics to statistics in partial economic investigations. The system he proposed in his 1906 masterwork, the natural economic order, was to use paper currency to which a stamp costing a small fraction of the note. Keynes about silvio gesell userpage gesell, drawing to himself the semireligious fervour which had formerly centred round henry george, became the revered prophet of a cult with many thousand disciples throughout the world. Silvio gesell jean silvio gesell ne le 17 mars 1862 a saint vith aujourd hui en wikipedia en francais. Silvio gesell 18621930 proposed a system of stamped money in order to accelerate monetary circulation and to free money from interest. It laid the foundation for an extensive body of writing inquiring into. Gesell observed the booms and busts of the economy in which he was doing business and developed the idea that fluctuating currency circulation leads to oscillating economic activity. Silvio gesells mother was belgian and his father came from aachen.
The lesson of gesells decaying currency whether negative interests will actually stimulate an economic recovery, however, remains in doubt. The pioneering theoretician of negativeinterest money was the germanargentinean businessman silvio gesell, who called it freemoney freigeld, a name that i will adopt in his honor. Jul 27, 2009 the most efficient economic system is probably a variant of the economy of the natural order, which was first described by silvio gesell. To unchain money from the fetters of restrictionism, to create free money freigeld, in the terminology of silvio gesell and to grant cheap or even gratuitous credit, is the main plank in their political platform. Translated by philip pye adapted by maurizio pittau. Silvio gesell 17 march 1862 11 march 1930 was a german merchant, theoretical economist, social activist, georgist, anarchist, libertarian socialist and founder of freiwirtschaft. Demurrage is sometimes cited as economically advantageous. The more i read paul krugmans columns and papers, the more i realize just how great the gulf is between austrian and keynesian thought. In 1900 he founded the magazine geldund bodenreform monetary and land reform, but it soon closed for financial reasons. Although i think a crawling peg exchange rate between paper currency and electronic money or what robert eisler, who initially prop.
Gesell demanded money only as a means of exchange, unsuited for saving. Nevertheless he had carried his theory far enough to lead him to a practical recommendation, which may carry with it the essence of what is needed, though it is not feasible in the form in which. Silvio gesell the natural economic order by local money. As you will see below, gesell does not mean free as in the free market, so much as free as in the air. During one of his stays in argentina, where he lived in a vegetarian commune. The natural economic order by silvio gesell goodreads. Through a series of pamphlets, articles and books, gesell inspired a worldwide movement that introduced a completely new form of money. A must read for absolutely everyone crucial to understand how money and the finance system works within the economic system and how the stamp scrip of the 1930s and the red treuque in 2001 argentina are models for todays complementary and shared governance aka democratic and transparent currencies.
It is sometimes referred to as a carrying cost of money. Arnold lucius gesell june 21,1880may 29, ig6i by walter r. The pioneering theoretician of negativeinterest money was the germanargentinean businessman silvio gesell, who called it freemoney freigeld. Although not all of his ideas could be put into practice, the schwundgeld nevertheless gained many supporters. Jan 07, 2015 from most of the advocates of free banking in the early nineteenth century and even a substantial section of the advocates of the banking principle to the agitators for a free money freigeld silvio gesell 22 and the plans of major c. Gesell is not an academic economist laboriously compiling footnotes and bibliographies, and adding statistics to. Books by silvio gesell author of the natural economic order. Silvio gesell, born in prussia in 1862, lived in germany, spain and argentina, working. From most of the advocates of free banking in the early nineteenth century and even a substantial section of the advocates of the banking principle to the agitators for a free money freigeld silvio gesell 22 and the plans of major c. Silvio gesell is the author of the natural economic order 4.
Silvio gesells plan for negative nominal interest rates. It is convenient to mention at this point the strange, unduly neglected prophet silvio gesell 1862 1930. Gesammelte werke, band 11 by silvio gesel l broschiert, 412 pages, published 2007 by gauke verlag isbn. Online shopping from a great selection at books store. The system he proposed in his 1906 masterwork, the natural economic order, was to use paper currency to which a stamp costing a small fraction of the notes value. The natural economic order translated by philip pye m. Because this money would mostly be lent out interestfree, he called his money concept freigeld german for free money. In his works on freiland and freigeld, the theoretical economist silvio gesell had called for a natural economic system. In order to avoid the costs of money hoarding, the owner of money would make his liquidity available, even at an interest rate of 0%. The first international convention of the swiss and german freilandfreigeld bund and similar organisations from many countries was held in basle in 1923. This was part of a global socialist system intended to.
According to silvio gesell, all humanproduced goods are subject to expensive storage, whereas money is not. Demurrage is the cost associated with owning or holding currency over a given period. Silvio gesells theory and accelerated money experiments. Denationalization of money foundation for economic education. Silvio gesell, the natural economic order on the other hand, influential british economist john maynard keynes contended that gesells proposed demurrage fees could be evaded by the use of more liquid competing forms of money and that therefore inflation was a preferable method to achieve economic stimulation. Silvio gesell the natural economic order by local money issuu. The most efficient economic system is probably a variant of the economy of the natural order, which was first described by silvio gesell. The best in uncensored news, information, and analysis. Your donations support and help insure blacklisted newss continued future and success. The first international convention of the swiss and german freiland freigeld bund and similar organisations from many countries was held in basle in 1923. Hang on to your wallets, bankers are coming after your. It is impossible to sum up all of the differences between the two camps, but i do think that perhaps the disparities can be summed up in the austrian rejection of keynes famous 1943 statement that expansion of credit by the central bank will create a. Silvio gesell 18621930, born in germany, worked as a successful importer in argentina at the end of the nineteenth century. Facing 30% unemployment and an inability to meet payroll for the employees of the city, the towns mayor, michael unterguggenberger, employed an economic theory of silvio gesell of freigeld free money, issuing labor certificates.
Publication date 1919 topics land, money, interest and usury publisher arnstadt i. Silvio gesell born march 17 1862 in sankt vith now belgium. Gesammelte werke, band 11 by silvio gesel l broschiert, 412 pages, published 2007 by gauke. Silvio gesell, who wanted to create money that expired, is making. As explained by charles eisenstein in sacred economics. Socialism as a political system is defined by democratic and social control of the means of production by the workers for the good of the community rather than capitalist profit, based fundamentally on the abolition of private property relations socialism is also a sociopolitical movement dedicated to the critique and dismantling of exploitative structures, including. The theory behind the experiment of worgl comes from silvio gesell 18621930, specifically his idea of freigeld german for free money, representing one part of his overall idea of freiwirtschaft free economy. Reduction of the proceeds of labour through rent on land. The idea of constructing a monetary system without positive interest rates can be traced to the germanargentine businessman silvio gesell and the french economist maurice allais. Silvio gesell pour les articles homonymes, voir gesell. Silvio gesell has 24 books on goodreads with 209 ratings. Rittershausen 51, and henry meulen 44 in the twentieth, they. Silvio gesell, who wanted to create money that expired, is. For paper currency, it can take the form of a periodic tax, such as a stamp tax, on currency holdings.
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