In this paper we address the subject of Keynes as a speculator. We look first at the primary sources of information, which are in the form of unpublished letters and broker’s statements. Secondly, we look at the theory Keynes sparingly presented in his writings, but which nevertheless is grounded on his first-hand knowledge of speculative behavior. Thirdly, we examine the focus on speculation in commodities, which had great weight in his portfolio, and have chosen a particular commodity -wheat- for our investigation. In particular, we examine some of Keynes’s dealings in wheat futures with the aim of shedding light on the underlying investment strategy.

to provide 'a middle course between unfettered competition under laissez-faire conditions and planned controls which try to freeze commerce into a fixed mould'. (J.M. Keynes, CWK XXVI: 111) to curb irresponsible movements of the price rather than to establish stability within a narrow range of fluctuations. (R.F. Kahn, RFK 2/12/2/80) 1.While it is known that Keynes was a speculator who traded on behalf of himself, his friends and his college, perhaps it is less appreciated that his theoretical writings concerning speculative behaviour are grounded on his first-hand experience as an investor (in particular, in commodity futures, which had great weight in his portfolio) and that some of his policy recommendations -the buffer-stocks scheme in particular -stem from his experience in playing on those markets (see Kregel 2010).If we look at Keynes's investment in practice, we see that a huge quota of Keynes's investment was in agricultural commodities, like wheat and maize (see Keynes 1971-1989

The monetary system of late medieval and early modern Europe has been commonly described as irrational, in the light of later commodity money standards. In particular, the alterations in the legal value and/or in the metal content of most coins throughout this period have been regarded as a source of disorder and as a product of ignorance and abuse. This article suggests that the whole system, and its apparently awkward articulations, may have been deliberately designed to ensure complementarity between domestic and foreign trade. From this perspective, monetary alterations appear as the levers of a peculiar form of monetary policy, with an extra degree of freedom compared to more modern instruments, and equally open to being managed or mismanaged.

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Stablecoins are second generation cryptocurrencies, aimed at maintaining their value stable with respect to official currencies. The most famous example is perhaps represented by libra, the cryptocurrency announced by Facebook in 2019 and yet to be issued; the most widespread is tether, with a market capitalization of almost 10 billion dollars and a daily transaction volume of almost 50 billion dollars, which makes it the most used cryptocurrency. The diffusion of stablecoins is hardly surprising. By minimizing volatility – the main flaw of first generation cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin –, stablecoins are expected to play an even more important role on a global scale within a few years. Our contribution deals not with the economic, but specifically with the geopolitical factors that could foster the use of stablecoins for strategic and military purposes. In particular, we focus on how such payment instruments, together with other alternative electronic payment systems, could be used as a means to circumvent economic sanctions and ultimately as a challenge to the hegemony of the US dollar in the international monetary system.