“The Initiated”: Aaron Director and the Chicago Monetary Tradition

Abstract

Aaron Director taught at the University of Chicago from 1930 to 1934 and from 1946 to 1967. Both periods corresponded to crucial stages in the development of Chicago monetary economics under the leaderships of Henry Simons and Milton Friedman, respectively. Any impact that Director may have played in the development of those stages and to the relationship between the views of Simons and Friedman has been frustrated by Director’s lack of publications. I provide evidence, much of it for the first time, showing the important role played by Director in the development of Chicago monetary economics, including his role as a transmitor of Simons’s ideas to Friedman.

The case for 100% money: Ten reasons for separating money issuance from banking

“…2 2 On the 100% money proposal in the 1930s, see, for example, Phillips (1995), Tavlas (2023, ch. 4), and Demeulemeester (2018, 2019, 2022).…”

“…This is the most serious fault line in the management of money in our societies today"(King, 2016, p. 86). 2 On the 100% money proposal in the 1930s, see, for example,Phillips (1995),Tavlas (2023, ch. 4), and Demeulemeester (2018, 2019, 2022.3 The issuing authority would first provide the banks, through the granting of a long-term (if not virtually perpetual) interest-free loan, with the new reserves required to fully back their checkable liabilitieswhich, some authors argued, should become liabilities of the government itself, administered by the banks.…”

Investigating the “Debt-Money-Prices” Triangle: Irving Fisher’s Theoretical Journey Toward the 100% Money Proposal

“…On the history of this plan, see Ronnie J Phillips (1994;1995). and George S Tavlas (2019;2023a;2023b)…”

One Hundred Years of Exchange Rate Economics at the University of Chicago: 1892-1992

“…Viner, however, did not sign a second memorandum, where the issue of devaluation was addressed with renewed force. (Nerozzi 2011;Tavlas 2019Tavlas , 2023.…”