Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System - Hardcover

by Matt Sekerke (Author), Steve H. Hanke (Author)

The Global Financial Crisis broke the monetary system. Here's how to fix it.

In Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System, Matt Sekerke and Steve H. Hanke deliver a rigorous and fascinating exploration of the monetary economy. You'll find a detailed and clear roadmap of how and why fiat money is created and destroyed, its connections to the broader economy, and the objective mechanisms that underwrite and maintain its value.

In their exploration, Sekerke and Hanke solve many problems and puzzles and shed light on several important questions:

• Why economists misunderstand the structure and function of the monetary system
• The central role of the commercial banking system in fiat money regimes, and why commercial banks are not like other financial intermediaries
• The economic and regulatory constraints on bank money creation
• The interplay between banking and capital markets in funding investment projects
• How the "banks" that dominate the international financial landscape distort the lines between banking and capital markets business
• Why banking regulation and fiscal policy determine and constrain monetary policy to an equal or greater extent than central bank actions

Sekerke and Hanke trace important post-crisis policy developments and sketch the broad strokes of a new operating model that would restore the performance of the monetary system and make better use of aggregate savings:

• Making neutrality the explicit goal of monetary policy, properly understood
• Increasing the supply of bankable projects and keeping them on bank balance sheets
• Breaking the financial system's fatal attraction to land and real estate
• Reducing regulatory distortions in lending markets
• Reforming universal banking institutions and stimulating competition
• Transitioning to a quantity-based monetary policy framework

An engaging and incisive guide to the global systems of money and banking, Making Money Work is destined to become a sought-after classic for bankers, finance professionals, policymakers, regulators, academics, and laypeople with an interest in money and banking.

Front Jacket

In Making Money Work: How to Rewrite the Rules of Our Financial System, Matt Sekerke and Steve H. Hanke deliver a rigorous and fascinating exploration of the monetary economy. You'll find a detailed and insightful roadmap of how and why fiat money is created and destroyed, its connections to the broader economy, and the objective mechanisms that underwrite and maintain its value.

In their exploration, Sekerke and Hanke solve many problems and puzzles about the structure and function of the monetary system, the economic importance of commercial banking and capital markets, and the role of banking regulation and the government budget in monetary policy.

Sekerke and Hanke trace important post-crisis policy developments and sketch a new operating model that would restore the performance of the monetary system, ensure the economic neutrality of monetary conditions, and make better use of aggregate savings. The authors propose reforms to the structure and regulation of the commercial banking system, a reduction of the government's footprint in capital markets, and mechanisms to create accountability for the monetary impact of fiscal policy. A quantity-based central bank policy anchored by disaggregated money supply data is the centerpiece of their policy proposals.

An engaging and incisive guide to the global systems of money and banking, Making Money Work is destined to become a sought-after classic for bankers, finance professionals, policymakers, regulators, academics, and laypeople with an interest in money and banking.

Back Jacket

Praise for MAKING MONEY WORK

"What is worth praising in this properly extraordinary book is the combination of monetary theory and the business-related imperative of making money. I have never seen (except perhaps in reading Keynes) such a skillful association."
--From the Foreword by JACQUES DE LAROSI?RE, former Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1978-1987) and former Governor of the Banque de France (1987-1993)

"This book provides a timely, comprehensive, and integrated analysis of monetary policy. It addresses a range of issues, including bank regulation, cryptocurrencies, and fiscal policy. It is a valuable source for people who want to have a more professional, objective and in-depth understanding of these important issues."
--DAVID M. WALKER, former Comptroller General of the United States

"Sekerke and Hanke offer a fine corrective to economists' conventional wisdom on monetary policy and the role of the banking system. As well as demonstrating how standard models of economic growth fail to capture the importance of banking and finance, they have important recommendations on the reform of bank regulations and central banks' thinking about money."
--JOHN PLENDER, Senior Editorial Columnist, Financial Times

"This is a remarkable and important contribution to economic theory and practice. The authors give a clear explanation of money creation and its macroeconomic impact. More importantly, the book gives the reader a deep understanding of how official monetary policies impact investment financing, income distribution and economic growth in general. It's a big winner."
--MARK MOBIUS, Chairman, Mobius Investments

"Sound reasoning, clear writing, informed judgments and unconventional conclusions, all informed by a keen historical awareness--it's not impossible that Messrs. Sekerke and Hanke will be drummed out of the corps of economists for this marvelous grand tour of all things monetary."
--JAMES GRANT, Editor, Grant's Interest Rate Observer

Author Biography

MATT SEKERKE is a Managing Director at SEDA Experts, Senior Macro Advisor at Hiddenite Capital Partners, a Fellow at the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University, and a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Finance at Durham University Business School. He is the author of Bayesian Risk Management (Wiley Finance, 2015).

STEVE H. HANKE is a Professor of Applied Economics and Founder and Co-Director of the Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise at the Johns Hopkins University. Hanke has served as an advisor to governments and heads of state in Europe, South America, and Asia. Currently, he serves as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AMG Critical Materials in Amsterdam. He is the co-author of Capital, Interest, and Waiting (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024) with Leland B. Yeager.