Germany: Topsy-turvy world (I)

From the monetary reform (which was defended by Martin Wolf, chief economist at the Financial Times, and Thomas Mayer, chief economist at the Deutsche Bank until 2012) to the return of the gold standard (which was advocated by economists from the Austrian School such as Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk) in order to take from the banks their hegemony over the money, because most of the money in circulation is not generated by the central banks but by the private entities (with the well-known “multiplier effect”).

This is the so-called “scriptural money”, a source of dynamism but also of instability; it is “a huge hole in the heart of our economies”, according to Mr Wolf. Among those reformists who aim at simplifying the banks’ responsibilities is are two experts: Joseph Huber, economist at the University of Halle, who founded the Monetative Association in 2009 to give the central banks the exclusive power over the money; and Hans Christoph Binswanger, professor at St Galler, who wants to reduce the massive pressure derived from the economic growth.

Thomas Mayer wants to get rid of both the scriptural money and the control of the money by the government. At the same time, the German media point at the need of more money in the Eurozone in order to grow at all costs. What about the Oxford’s idea of throw money for everybody from a helicopter? “If 275 million workers and retirees from the Eurozone received a €500 check, this would boost the demand by €34 billion,” according to calculations by professor of economy John Muellbauer, at the University of Oxford.

“The States would collect more taxes and would be able to reduce their debts.”

The Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper from Munich asked if that is really the solution –after seeing how the Japanese economy fell into recession again, despite Shinzo Abe tried to boost the economy and the private consumption with a huge program of spending. The Japanese economy not only is unable to start but it also retreats with a 1,6% fall in the 3Q14. And that is what will happen in our European economy –which has been already classified as a “tortoise economy” by many experts.