George Selgin (; born 1957) is an American economist. He is Senior Fellow and Director Emeritus of the

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Ind ...

's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, where he is editor-in-chief of the center's blog, ''Alt-M'', Professor Emeritus of

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

at the

Terry College of Business The C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The business college offers undergraduate programs, MBA programs, specialized master's programs and ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, and an associate editor of ''

Econ Journal Watch ''Econ Journal Watch'' is a semiannual peer-reviewed electronic journal established in 2004. It is published by the Fraser Institute. According its website, the journal publishes comments on articles appearing in other economics journals, essays, r ...

''. Selgin formerly taught at George Mason University, the

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...

, and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State Coll ...

Research

Selgin's research covers a broad range of topics within the field of monetary economics, including monetary history, macroeconomic theory, and the history of monetary thought. He is one of the founders, along with Kevin Dowd and Lawrence H. White, of the Modern Free Banking School, which draws its inspiration from the writings of

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...

on denationalization of money and choice in currency. A central claim of the Free Banking School is that the effects of government intervention in monetary systems cannot be properly appreciated except with reference to a theory of monetary

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

, analogous to the theory of

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econ ...

that informs the modern understanding of the effects of

tariffs A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and po ...

and other

trade barriers Trade barriers are government-induced restrictions on international trade. According to the theory of comparative advantage, trade barriers are detrimental to the world economy and decrease overall economic efficiency. Most trade barriers work ...

. The free bankers argue that, viewed in light of such a theory,

financial crises A financial crisis is any of a broad variety of situations in which some financial assets suddenly lose a large part of their nominal value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and man ...

and

business cycles Business cycles are intervals of expansion followed by recession in economic activity. These changes have implications for the welfare of the broad population as well as for private institutions. Typically business cycles are measured by examini ...

are largely attributable to misguided government interference with freely-evolved and competitive monetary arrangements, including legislation granting

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central b ...

s exclusive rights to issue paper

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...

. Selgin is also known for his advocacy of a "productivity norm" for monetary policy—an ideal according to which the growth-rate of nominal

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is oft ...

should be such as will allow the (output)

price level The general price level is a hypothetical measure of overall prices for some set of goods and services (the consumer basket), in an economy or monetary union during a given interval (generally one day), normalized relative to some base set ...

to decline along with goods' real (unit) costs of production—that is, at a rate opposite the growth rate of total factor productivity. According to Selgin, by preventing mild

deflation In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% (a negative inflation rate). Inflation reduces the value of currency over time, but sudden deflatio ...

in response to

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

gains, monetary authorities risk inadvertently fueling unsustainable booms or economic bubbles, setting the stage for consequent busts and

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

. Because it requires that aggregate spending grow at a steady rate equal to the trend growth rate of weighted factor input growth, Selgin's ideal amounts to a version of nominal income targeting, which helped to inspire and inform the post-Great Recession movement favoring NGDP targeting. Selgin is considered a Bitcoin OG ("Original Gangsta"), having taken part in the original

cypherpunk A cypherpunk is any individual advocating widespread use of strong cryptography and privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change. Originally communicating through the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list, informal g ...

mailing list (with Wei Dei and Nick Szabo) that led to Bitcoin's invention, which Hal Finney and Nick Szabo say he helped to inspire. He was one of the first economists to explore the economics of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He is also an expert on the history and economics of old-fashioned metallic

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

age. His book ''Good Money'' tells the story of the private minting of coins during Great Britain's

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

. He is one of the foremost authorities on

Gresham's Law In economics, Gresham's law is a monetary principle stating that "bad money drives out good". For example, if there are two forms of commodity money in circulation, which are accepted by law as having similar face value, the more valuable com ...

—the oldest of all economic laws concerning money. Since he joined the

Selgin has become a leading critic of some of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

's post-crisis policies, including its decision to permanently switch to an ample reserves or "floor" operating system, and its decision to build a "real time" retail payments network to compete with one established by commercial bankers. Most recently, he has taken on the growing movement to have the Fed make use of its

Quantitative Easing Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action whereby a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary pol ...

powers, not solely to combat recessions, but as a means for funding ambitious government projects that can bypass Congress's normal appropriations process. Selgin is the twin brother of author and illustrator Peter Selgin and the half brother of anthropologist

Clare Selgin Wolfowitz Clare Selgin Wolfowitz (born November 1945) is an American anthropologist with a specialism in Indonesia. She currently works at the IRIS center at the University of Maryland, College Park in the Governance Institutions Group, primarily on its proj ...

. His other half-sister, Ann Selgin Levy, is a fabric artist and culinary author. His father, Paul Selgin, was an inventor whose numerous

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

s include many for optical measuring devices for use in manufacturing.

Education

* Ph.D., Economics,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

,1986 * B.A., Economics and Zoology,

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three sch ...

, 1979

Published works

Books

* ''The Menace of Fiscal QE'' (2020). * ''Floored! How a Misguided Fed Experiment Deepened and Prolonged the Great Recession'' (2018). * ''Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy'' (2018). * ''Money: Free & Unfree'' (2017). * ''Good Money: Birmingham Button Makers, the Royal Mint, and the Beginnings of Modern Coinage'' (2008). . *
Less Than Zero: The Case for a Falling Price Level in a Growing Economy
' (1997). . * ''Bank Deregulation and Monetary Order'' (1996). . * ''Readings in Money and Banking'' (1995). . * ''The Theory of Free Banking: Money Supply under Competitive Note Issue'' (1988). .

Scholarly Articles

* Selgin, George. (2020). "On Targeting the Price of Gol

* Selgin, George. (2019)
The Fed's New Operating Framework: How We Got Here and Why We Shouldn't Stay
''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2016)
Real and Pseudo Monetary Rules
(2016). ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George and Bahadir, Berrak. (2015).
The Productivity Gap: Monetary Policy, the Subprime Boom, and the Post-2011 Productivity Surge
. ''Journal of Policy Modeling'' * Selgin, George. (2015)
Law, Legislation, and the Gold Standard
.''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2014)
Operation Twist-the-Truth: How the Federal Reserve Misrepresents Its History and Performance
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2013).
Those Dishonest Goldsmiths
. ''Financial History Review'' * Selgin, George. (2013)
Synthetic Commodity Money
. ''Journal of Financial Stability'' * Selgin, George. (2013)
Incredible Commitments: Why the EMU Is Destroying Both Europe and Itself
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George, Lastrapes, William D., and White, Lawrence H.. (2012)
Has the Fed Been a Failure?
. ''Journal of Macroeconomics'' * Selgin, George and Lastrapes, William. (2012).
Banknotes and Economic Growth
. ''Scottish Journal of Political Economy'' * Selgin, George. (2012)
L Street: Bagehotian Prescriptions for a 21st Century Money Market
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George and Turner, John. (2011)
Strong Steam, Weak Patents, or, the Myth of Watt's Innovation-Blocking Monopoly, Exploded
. ''Journal of Law & Economics'' * Selgin, George. (2010)
The Futility of Central Banking
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2010).
Mere Quibbles: Bagus and Howden's Critique of the Theory of Free Banking
. ''Review of Austrian Economics'' * Selgin, George. (2010).
Central Banks as Sources of Financial Instability
. ''The Independent Review'' * Selgin, George. (2009).
The Institutional Roots of Great Britain's 'Big Problem of Small Change
." ''European Review of Economic History'' * Selgin, George and Turner, John. (2009).
Watt, Again? Boldrin and Levine Still Exaggerate the Adverse Effects of Patents on the Progress of Steam Power
" ''Review of Law and Economics'' * Selgin, George. (2009).
100 Percent Reserve Money: The Small Change Challenge
" ''Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics'' * Selgin, George. (2008)
Milton Friedman and the Case against Currency Monopoly
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George and VanHoose, D.. (2007).
The Euro and World Inflation.
''Oxford Economic Papers'' * Selgin, George and Turner, John. (2006).
James Watt as Intellectual Monopolist: Comment on Boldrin and Levine
" ''International Economics Review'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (2005).
Credible Currency: A Constitutionalist Perspective.
''Constitutional Political Economy'' * Selgin, George. (2005).
Charles Wyatt, Manager of the Parys Mine Mint: A Study in Ingratitude.
''British Numismatic Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2005
"Currency Privatization as a Substitute for Currency Boards and Dollarization"
''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2004).
Wholesale Payments: Questioning the Market-Failure Hypothesis.
''International Review of Law and Economics'' * Selgin, George. (2003).
Steam, Hot Air, and Small Change: Matthew Boulton and the Reform of Britain's Coinage.
''The Economic History Review'' * Selgin, George. (2003).
Adaptive Learning and the Transition to Fiat Money.
''The Economic Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2001).
In-Concert Overexpansion and the Precautionary Demand for Bank Reserves.
''Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking'' * Selgin, George. (2001
"You Call That Deregulation? A Critical Examination of Hugh Thomas's Proposal to Deregulate Banking"
''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (2000).
The Suppression of State Bank Notes: A Reconsideration.
''Economic Inquiry'' * Selgin, George. (1999).
Hayek versus Keynes on How the Price Level Ought to Behave.
''History of Political Economy'' * Selgin, George and Taylor, Jason. (1999).
By Our Bootstraps: Origins and Effects of the High-Wage Doctrine
''Journal of Labor Research'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1999).
A Fiscal Theory of Governments' Role in Money
''Economic Inquiry'' * Selgin, George. (2000)
World Monetary Policy After The Echo
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1999)
Ludwig von Mises and the Case for Gold
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1999).
A Plea for (Mild) Deflation
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1997).
A Regulatory Placebo? Or, the Strange Case of Dr. Kaufman and Mr. Seir
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George and Lastrapes, William. (1997).
The Check Tax: Fiscal Folly and the Great Monetary Contraction
''Journal of Economic History'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1997).
The Option Clause in Scottish Banking
''Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking'' * Selgin, George. (1996).
Salvaging Gresham's Law: the Good, the Bad, and the Illegal.
''Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1996).
In Defense of Fiduciary Media
''Review of Austrian Economics'' * Selgin, George and Foldvary, Fred. (1995).
The Dependency of Wage Contracts on Monetary Policy
''Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics'' * Selgin, George. (1995).
The Case for a 'Productivity Norm': Comment on Dowd.
''Journal of Macroeconomics'' * Selgin, George. (1995).
The 'Productivity Norm' vs. Zero Inflation in the History of Economic Thought.
''History of Political Economy'' * Selgin, George and Lastrapes, William. (1995).
The Liquidity Effect: Identifying Short-Run Interest Rate Dynamics using Long-Run Restrictions
''Journal of Macroeconomics'' * Selgin, George. (1995).
Bank Self-Regulation: Comment on Bordo and Schwartz
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1994).
How Would the Invisible Hand Handle Money?
''Journal of Economic Literature'' * Selgin, George. (1994).
Free Banking and Monetary Control.
''Economic Journal'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1994).
Monetary Reform and the Redemption of National Bank Notes, 1863–1913
''Business History Review'' * Selgin, George. (1994).
On Ensuring the Acceptability of a New Fiat Money.
''Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking'' * Selgin, George and Lastrapes, William. (1994).
Buffer-Stock Money: Interpreting Short-Run Dynamics Using Long-Run Restrictions
''Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking'' * Selgin, George. (1994).
Are Banking Crises Free-Market Phenomena?
''Critical Review'' * Selgin, George. (1994).
Banking is Different, ''Because'' it is Regulated
" ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1993).
In Defense of Bank Suspension.
''Journal of Financial Services Research'' * Selgin, George. (1992).
On Foot-Loose Prices and Forecast-Free Monetary Regimes.
''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1992).
Bank Lending 'Manias' in Theory and History.
''Journal of Financial Services Research'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1990).
Laissez‑Faire Monetary Theorists in Late Nineteenth Century America
''Southern Economic Journal'' * Selgin, George and Boudreaux, Don. (1990).
L. Albert Hahn: Precursor of Keynesianism ''and'' the 'Monetarist Counterrevolution'
''History of Political Economy'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1990).
Laissez‑Faire Monetary Thought in Jacksonian America
''Perspectives on the History of Economic Thought'' * Selgin, George. (1990).
Why Does Europe Want a Federal Reserve System?
''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1990).
Monetary Equilibrium and the Productivity Norm of Price-Level Policy
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1989).
Legal Restrictions, Financial Weakening, and the Lender of Last Resort
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1989).
The Analytical Framework of the Real‑Bills Doctrine.
''Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics'' * Selgin, George. (1989).
Commercial Banks as Pure Intermediaries: Between 'Old' and 'New' Views."
''Southern Economic Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1989).
Legal Restrictions, Financial Weakening, and the Lender of Last Resort.
''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1988).
The Stability and Efficiency of Money Supply under Free Banking
" ''Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics'' * Selgin, George. (1988).
Praxeology and Understanding.
''Review of Austrian Economics'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1988).
Competitive Monies and the Suffolk System: Comment
''Southern Economic Journal'' * Selgin, George. (1988)
Central Banking: Myth and Reality.
''Hong Kong Economic Papers'' * Selgin, George. (1988).
Accommodating Changes in the Relative Demand for Currency: Free Banking vs. Central Banking
. ''Cato Journal'' * Selgin, George and White, Lawrence. (1987).
The Evolution of a Free Banking System
" ''Economic Inquiry''

References

External links

Selgin's Alt-M (blog) page

Selgin's Cato biography

Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives

Selgin's faculty homepage
* Interview of Selgin in the

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is the headquarters of the Fifth District of the Federal Reserve located in Richmond, Virginia. It covers the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia ...

's ''Region Focus'' (Winter 2009

* * , lecture on "The Private Supply of Money" (recorded at the annual Austrian Scholars Conference, Ludwig von Mises Institute, 14 March 2009) * * "Me, Murray Rothbard, Murray, and Milton" (Selgin on Austrian economics; July 28, 2011

George Selgin
at Mises.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Selgin, George Austrian School economists 1957 births Living people University of Georgia faculty Monetary economists Drew University alumni