Policy Spotlights – Just Money

About Policy Spotlights

This column includes short pieces explaining policy proposals that highlight, revise, or contest current monetary design. While we focus on contemporary proposals, historical episodes may be included occasionally. Columns are written by editors or by student authors and will be updated monthly. Students interested in becoming a Just Money columnist should contact Dan Rohde: editor@justmoney.org.

Policy Spotlight
Public Banking (Updated November, 2020)

Author: Bryna Godar

Now updated to reflect the increased push for public banking following COVID-19.

Policy Spotlight
Lacewell v. OCC

Author: Lev Menand & Morgan Ricks

Policy Spotlight
The Phenomenon of Complementary Currencies

Author: Christian Gelleri

Policy Spotlight
The Constitution and the Fed after the COVID-19 Crisis

Authors: Christine Desan and Nadav Orian Peer

Policy Spotlight
Working Paper: In the Name of the People? – The German Constitutional Court’s Judgment on the European Central Bank’s Public Sector Purchase Programme

Author: Isabel Feichtner

Policy Spotlight
The Narrow Bank Update: SDNY dismisses TNB suit

Author: Gavriel Schreiber

The Narrow Bank (TNB) is a state-chartered passthrough bank that proposes to hold only one asset: account balances at the Federal Reserve. Providing an ultra-safe option for large investors to hold their high-powered money is meant to increase financial stability and extend the benefits of Federal Reserve accounts,

Policy Spotlight
Italy’s mini-BOT Proposal

Author: Michael Svedman

The proposal by Italy’s Lega Norda (or League) political party to introduce a currency-like instrument called the mini-BOT that would circulate alongside the euro has generated significant commentary and criticism. These debates shed light on the public dimension of money by forcing us to consider the relationship between monetary authority and political sovereignty. With implications reaching far beyond the economic impact of such an instrument, the mini-BOT raises urgent questions about the stability of the European Union, the rise of populism on the Left and Right, and the coherence of the neoliberal political and economic consensus that underwrites the EU project.