{"id":130612,"date":"2025-07-04T17:15:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T16:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themintmagazine.com\/?p=130612"},"modified":"2025-07-04T17:41:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T16:41:15","slug":"lucre-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themintmagazine.com\/lucre-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucre ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

David McWilliams is both an academic expert in monetary economics and has worked for the Irish central bank, so he understands the realities of creating money. His book, Money<\/em>, has just been released in paperback, so The Mint<\/em> caught up with him to learn more about his views on this controversial subject, including the future of the dollar under Trump. On this, he bravely made a prediction, which we will see if he comes to regret.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/h3>\n

Key Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Money is fundamentally a social technology that co-evolved with other human innovations like writing, law, and democracy<\/li>\n
  • Cryptocurrency and gold-standard thinking reflect misunderstandings about the true nature of money as a social construct<\/li>\n
  • The U.S. may face a fiscal\/dollar crisis under the second Trump presidency due to mounting debt and erosion of trust<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Topics<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Origins and Nature of Money<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Money emerged as a social technology ~5,000 years ago to help manage complexity in growing societies<\/li>\n
    • It co-evolved with writing, law, mathematics, and organized religion as tools for social organization<\/li>\n
    • The idea of barter as the origin of money is a myth; debt and credit systems came first<\/li>\n
    • Money is both currency (less important) and finance (more important), with finance resting on interest rates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Cryptocurrency and Gold Standard Misconceptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Cryptocurrency reflects a commodity view of money, misunderstanding its nature as a social technology<\/li>\n
      • Like Esperanto for language, crypto is pushed by a small but vocal group but lacks mainstream adoption<\/li>\n
      • The gold standard similarly misunderstands money’s social basis – “you can’t eat gold” in a crisis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • MMT gained prominence during pandemic spending but has limitations<\/li>\n
        • It focuses too much on currency aspects of money vs. the crucial role of interest rates in finance<\/li>\n
        • There is more scope for government spending than often assumed, but markets still constrain via long-term rates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          U.S. Dollar and Potential Crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          • U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio nearing 100% with interest rates exceeding growth rate is concerning<\/li>\n
          • Trump administration’s fiscal policies and potential Federal Reserve interference eroding dollar trust<\/li>\n
          • A fiscal\/dollar crisis may occur under the second Trump term, framing the subsequent administration’s priorities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

             <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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