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Jürg Niehans and the Cashless Economy

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  • Joshua R. Hendrickson

Abstract

Information technology has the potential to decrease substantially, if not completely, the demand for base money. This poses a problem for central banks as it seemingly eliminates a role for monetary policy, at least in the traditional sense. Recently, it has become commonplace to consider the role of monetary policy and the determination of the price level without any reference to money. The two predominant methods of analysis in this regard are the New Keynesian framework articulated by Woodford and the fiscal theory of the price level as described in Cochrane. Lost in the literature on “cashless†economies is the work of Jürg Niehans who, driven by the perplexities of the Eurodollar market, considered the role of monetary policy and price-level determination in the context of a neoclassical macroeconomic model. This article contrasts the framework and conclusions of Niehans with the contemporary approaches. It is argued that Niehans successfully anticipated the conclusions of the fiscal theory of the price level. JEL Classification : E52, E63

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua R. Hendrickson, 2017. "Jürg Niehans and the Cashless Economy," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 62(2), pages 149-164, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:amerec:v:62:y:2017:i:2:p:149-164
    DOI: 10.1177/0569434516672764
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    price-level determination; fiscal theory of the price level; New Keynesian model; cashless economy; Jürg Niehans;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E63 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Comparative or Joint Analysis of Fiscal and Monetary Policy; Stabilization; Treasury Policy

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