A Program for Monetary Reform

A Program for Monetary Reform was a proposal for reforming the banking system in the United States following the Great Depression, to aid the return of the American economy to full employment. It was written in 1939 by a group of prominent economists and circulated within the academic community.

A Program for Monetary Reform (1939) was never published. A copy of the paper was apparently preserved in a college library. Copies of the paper, stamped on the bottom of the first and last pages, “LIBRARY – COLORADO STATE COLLEGE OF A. & M. A. – FORT COLLINS COLORADO” were circulated at the 5th Annual American Monetary Institute Monetary Reform Conference (2009) and the images were scanned for display on the internet.[1]

Ronnie J. Phillips, then a Professor of Economics at Colorado State University, referenced the paper in his book, The Chicago Plan & New Deal Banking Reform (1995). Phillips is currently a Senior Fellow at the NetWorks Financial Institute at Indiana State University.

A Program for Monetary Reform was attributed on its cover page to six American economists: Paul H. Douglas, Irving Fisher, Frank D. Graham, Earl J. Hamilton, Wilford I. King, and Charles R. Whittlesey.

Many of the efforts made by economists to reform the banking system in the wake of the Great Depression found their way into the history books. Perhaps the most notable proposals were first put forward by economists at the University of Chicago in a six-page memorandum on banking reform which was given limited and confidential distribution to about 40 individuals on March 16, 1933. A copy of the memorandum was sent to Henry A. Wallace, then Secretary of Agriculture, with a cover letter signed by Frank Knight. Paul Douglas was listed among the supporters of the plan.

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