Swiss money experiment

Last month I posted a review of Mervyn King’s book “The end of Alchemy”. One of the central ideas in King’s book was that all deposits must be backed 100% by liquid, safe assets. It appears that the Swiss are being asked to vote on a proposal labeled “Sovereign Money Initiative” that may not be exactly the same as King’s idea but comes from the same school of money philosophy.

It is not clear that there is any popular support for the proposal but it would be a fascinating money experiment if it did get support. Thanks to Brian Reid for flagging this one to me.

Tony

 

 

Author: From the Outside

After working in the Australian banking system for close to four decades, I am taking some time out to write and reflect on what I have learned. My primary area of expertise is bank capital management but this blog aims to offer a bank insider's outside perspective on banking, capital, economics, finance and risk.

2 thoughts on “Swiss money experiment”

  1. I am not sure, whether a single country, following through on an approach like the one proposed for Swiss, would succeed or whether the markets would exploit it (between the systems).

    Anyway, not a fan of the proposal.

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    1. I am not a fan either and I would be very surprised if it was approved. That said, Mervyn King is I think a very smart guy so it it is interesting that he proposed something similar in his book.

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