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Henry Calvert Simons

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742: 392:, a senior member of the financial services industry, writes: "If Bear had not been put into sound hands and provided solvency and liquidity, the credit markets would simply have frozen... The stock market would have crashed by 20% or more... We would have seen tens of trillions of dollars wiped out in equity holdings all over the world." The Bear Stearns debacle was a watershed event in a housing market crisis that precipitated massive devaluations, left the economy reeling, and required massive government action. 36: 322:
production the Federal government should own and operate them... Promote economic stability by reform of the monetary system and establishment of stable rules for monetary policy... Reform the tax system and promote equity through income tax... Abolish all tariffs... Limit waste by restricting advertising and other wasteful merchandising practices.
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needed to be more flexible to accommodate fluctuations in output and employment. To this end, he advocated a minimum of short-term borrowing, and a maximum of government control over the circulation of money. This would result in an economy with a greater tolerance of disturbances and the prevention
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and transaction windows and the institutional separation of banks as "lender-investors" and banks as depository agencies. The primary benefit would be to enable lending and investing institutions to focus on the provision of "long term capital in equity form" (233). Banks could be "free to provide
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Simons writes that all it takes to precipitate a massive liquidation of securities is "a relatively small decline of security values". Simons is emphatic in pointing out that corporations that traded on a "shoestring of equity, and under a mass of current liabilities" are "placing their working
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Eliminate all forms of monopolistic market power, to include the breakup of large oligopolistic corporations and application of antitrust laws to labor unions. A Federal incorporation law could be used to limit corporation size and where technology required giant firms for reasons of low cost
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such funds out of their own capital". Short-term interest-based commercial loans would be phased out, since one of the "unfortunate effects of modern banking," as Simons viewed it, was that it had "facilitated and encouraged the use of short-term financing in business generally".
281:, which Simons viewed to be inherently unstable. This would have prevented unsecured bank credit from circulating as a "money substitute" in the financial system, and it would be replaced with money created by the government or central bank that would not be subject to bank runs. 412:
that were responsible for much of the existing volatility. Simons, an opponent of the gold standard, advocated non interest-bearing debt and opposed the issuance of short-term debt for financing public or corporate obligations. He also opposed the payment of
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of "accumulated maladjustments" all coming to bear at once on the economy. In sum, for Simons, a financial system in which the movement of the price level was in many ways beholden to the creation and liquidation of short-term
440:, up to 100%. Simons saw this as beneficial in that its ultimate consequences would be the prevention of "bank-financed inflation of securities and real estate" through the leveraged creation of secondary forms of money. 103: 369:
Simons believed that a financial system so structured would be "repeatedly exposed to complete insolvency". In due course, government intervention would inevitably be necessary to forestall
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In Simons' ideal economy, nothing would be circulated but "pure assets" and "pure money," rather than "near moneys," "practically moneys," and other precarious forms of short-term
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on money, demand deposits, and savings. Simons envisioned private banks which played a substantially different role in society than they currently do. Rather than controlling the
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This is the chain of events predicted by Henry Simons in the event of a large-scale liquidation of inflated securities such as mortgage loans. In
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According to Simons, financial disturbances in the economy are perpetuated by "extreme alternations of hoarding and dis-hoarding" of money.
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Simons, Henry C. "Economic Policy for a Free Society." University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL. (1948), pp. 165–248
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In the interest of stability, Simons envisioned banks that would have a choice of two types of holdings: long-term
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A Positive Program for Laissez Faire: Some Proposals for A Liberal Economic Policy; Public Policy Pamphlets No. 15
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through the issuance of debt, Simons' banks would be more akin to "investment trusts" than anything else.
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capital precariously on call," and hence at risk, in the event of the slightest financial disturbance.
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Mauldin, John, peter. "Thoughts on the Continuing Crisis." Frontline Weekly Newsletter. 21 March 2008.
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that found broad support in the years following the 1930s Depression, which would have abolished the
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The Revival of Laissez-Faire in American Macroeconomic Theory: A Case Study of Its Pioneers
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Friedman, Milton (1967). "The Monetary Theory and Policy of Henry Simons".
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Henry Simons argued for changing the financial architecture of the
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The Forgotten Henry Simons – Florida State University College
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A recent example would be the $ 10 billion bailout by the
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University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center
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The University of Chicago Press: 1–13. 80:Learn how and when to remove this message 691:Rationalism in Politics and Other Essays 346:Corporate finance and the business cycle 43:This article includes a list of general 703:New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics 474: 743:Works by or about Henry Calvert Simons 7: 311:A Positive Program for Laissez Faire 284:Simons is noted for a definition of 443:Simons advocated the separation of 269:. He was a founding author of the 613:Economic Policy for a Free Society 495:The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism 397:Economic Policy for a Free Society 49:it lacks sufficient corresponding 25: 279:fractional-reserve banking system 1149:20th-century American economists 683:The Political Economy of Freedom 218: 34: 362:" of the secondary monies, or " 617:. University of Chicago Press. 609:Simons, Henry Calvert (1948). 487:"Economics, Chicago School of" 1: 1144:University of Chicago faculty 706:(1987), v. 4, pp. 332–35 373:due to traders' bad bets and 1134:People from Virden, Illinois 634:Journal of Law and Economics 783:Chicago school of economics 288:, developed in common with 267:Chicago school of economics 192:Chicago School of Economics 1170: 1154:Chicago School economists 550:Simons, Henry C. (1934). 511:10.4135/9781412965811.n85 207: 166: 101: 1139:Economists from Illinois 358:, "hopeless efforts at 64:more precise citations. 352:Short-term obligations 324: 309:In one of his essays, 265:models influenced the 157:University of Michigan 497:. Thousand Oaks, CA: 251:University of Chicago 161:University of Chicago 1083:Julian Lincoln Simon 1061:Business and finance 1052:Frank H. Easterbrook 971:Public choice school 908:New social economics 880:New economic history 802:Henry Calvert Simons 456:Simons believed the 294:Haig–Simons equation 214:Henry Calvert Simons 96:Henry Calvert Simons 999:William A. Niskanen 505:. pp. 135–37. 898:Robert M. Townsend 679:Oakeshott, Michael 27:American economist 1111: 1110: 1103:Lars Peter Hansen 1014:Law and economics 979:James M. Buchanan 687:Cambridge Journal 668:Kasper, Sherryl. 305:Program of reform 211: 210: 90: 89: 82: 16:(Redirected from 1161: 989:Randall Holcombe 951:Sudhir Venkatesh 860:Allan H. Meltzer 855:Harry G. Johnson 850:Phillip D. 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Knight 187: 171:Academic career 159: 137: 128: 122: 121:October 9, 1899 116: 114: 97: 86: 75: 69: 66: 56:Please help to 55: 39: 35: 28: 23: 22: 18:Henry C. 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Retrieved 552: 545: 494: 477: 455: 452:Money supply 442: 423: 419:money supply 407: 394: 390:John Mauldin 386:Bear Stearns 379: 377:by lenders. 375:margin calls 368: 349: 325: 320: 310: 308: 283: 271:Chicago plan 255:Frank Knight 213: 212: 138:(1946-06-19) 76: 67: 48: 1129:1946 deaths 1124:1899 births 1088:Eugene Fama 1047:Robert Bork 921:Gary Becker 807:Jacob Viner 580:Hayek, F.A. 458:price level 410:instruments 366:," result. 360:liquidation 145:Nationality 62:introducing 1118:Categories 827:Monetarism 626:References 529:2008009151 463:securities 371:insolvency 364:fire sales 356:depression 263:monetarist 198:Influences 117:1899-10-09 70:April 2018 45:references 662:154308028 537:750831024 340:deflation 336:inflation 259:antitrust 247:economist 188:tradition 180:Economics 153:Education 790:Founders 560:22 March 485:(2008). 438:reserves 415:interest 330:to make 148:American 745:at the 736:at the 493:(ed.). 445:deposit 430:consols 249:at the 58:improve 685:, in: 660:  654:724867 652:  535:  527:  517:  432:, and 257:, his 127:, U.S. 47:, but 727:JSTOR 658:S2CID 650:JSTOR 489:. 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Index

Henry C. Simons
references
inline citations
improve
introducing
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Virden, Illinois
University of Michigan
University of Chicago
Economics
Chicago School of Economics
Frank H. Knight
/ˈsmənz/
economist
University of Chicago
Frank Knight
antitrust
monetarist
Chicago school of economics
Chicago plan
monetary reform
fractional-reserve banking system
economic income
Robert M. Haig
Haig–Simons equation
Great Depression
United States
monetary policy
inflation

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