J. Laurence Laughlin

Bio: J. Laurence Laughlin is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Currency & Foreign exchange risk. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 26 publications receiving 119 citations.

The Quantity-Theory of Money

Abstract: I If price is the quantity of the standard money for which a commodity will exchange, there are two terms to the price ratio, and two sets of forces affecting price: (i) those touching the standard, and (2) those touching the demand and supply of goods. Assuming the usual functions of money, it is obvious that price-making is related directly to the standard money; and that the various forms of money which act as media of exchange have no effect on the price-making process except as they may change the value of either term in the price ratio, the value of gold, or the value of goods. Of course, the value of no article is fixed solely by demand, ignoring the influence of supply; demand is always at a given price; and supply is offered at a price that in general will cover the competitive expenses of producing the commodity. The quantity-theorists, however, insist that prices are fixed by the forms through which demand is expressed; by the quantity of money, or credit, offered for goods, as contrasted with the volume of trade; and have no place in their formulas (e.g., MV+ M'V' = P * T) for the influence of expenses of production on prices. It is essentially a theory of purchasing power. In actual life,

Economics in the Schools

Abstract: THE difficult problems of education in America today are to be found, as we all know, in the secondary education. The college has blossomed into the university; the elective system, and the introduction of the new learning, has bridged the old gap which used to exist between subjects taught and the real life to be lived by the student after he has left the higher institutions of learning. There is now at least some adjustment of university education to the life which the student must live. But, how as to the ante-college period of our education ? How as to the aims and subjects taught to the mass of our youth, who may or may not go to college ? Here we are on debatable territory; here are the gravest problems in our national education. It is inevitable that we should first be compelled to settle, even if roughly, the general purposes of education in these schools. Too often the discussion of requirements for entrance to college, as well as of the curricula of our secondary schools, rambles aimlessly over the relative desirability of certain subjects. To my mind, any scientific examination of the educational question demnands, first, an agreement upon what effects we wish to produce on the mind of the student. After we have settled that point it would then be in order to test various studies according to their utility in producing the wished-for results. In the higher education, I take it, we have effectually disposed of the callow conception of education as a synonyrn of useful information. If it means anything, education means the acquisition of mental power and grip, the power to make definite, clear-cut distinctions, and to be able to think in a subject-that is, education on its intellectual side, I mean. If so, then the subjects taught and methods used should be chosen or rejected on the -test of experience as to whether or not they tend to produce these results. In the old-fashioned college curriculum it was assumed that only Latin, Greek, mathematics, and philosophy were educative; but it is clear that there are many

Gold and Prices, 1890-1907

Abstract: The influence of the large production of gold upon the level of prices in the last decade presents one of the most interesting problems in theoretical as well as in practical economics. Since Ricardo, and even before him, the familiar theory has been held that an increase of the circulating medium necessarily produces an increase in the prices of goods. Yet, in the United States, we have had falling prices with an increasing circulation. Indeed, the old theory of Ricardo and Hume no longer holds undisputed sway. There seems to be general agreement hat the price of an article, like wheat, is the quantity of the given standard for which it will exchange. Obviously, price is an expression of the exchange-ratio between a commmodity, likewheat, and a standard, like gold. Hence, in these later days, it has been seen that this ratio can be changed by forces affe;cting either term of the ratio. While the causes influencing the supply and demand of gold are supposed constant, we know that causes touching the demand and supply of wheat can modify its gold price. A scanty harvest and a reduced supply of wheat, or a new demand, will raise its price; while reduced freights, improved processes, an increase of supply, or a diminished emand, will lower its price. These facts, touching wheat alone, are self-evident; and they show that changes in price are not to be attributed solely to forces affecting

The Limits of Delegation: Veto Players, Central Bank Independence, and the Credibility of Monetary Policy

Abstract: Governments unable to make credible promises hinder economic development and effective policy making. Scholars have focused considerable attention on checks and balances and the delegation of authority to independent agencies as institutional solutions to this problem. The political conditions under which these institutions enhance credibility, rather than policy stability, are still unclear, however. We show that checks – multiple veto players – enhance credibility, depending on the extent of uncertainty about the location of the status quo, on how agenda control is allocated among the veto players, and on whether veto players have delegated policy making authority to independent agencies. In the context of monetary policy and independent central banks, we find evidence supporting the following predictions: delegation is more likely to enhance credibility and political replacements of central bank governors are less likely in the presence of multiple political veto players; this effect increases with the polarization of veto players.

Towards a Synthesized Critique of Neoliberal Biodiversity Conservation

Abstract: During the last three decades, the arena of biodiversity conservation has largely aligned itself with the globally dominant political ideology of neoliberalism and associated governmentalities. Schemes such as payments for ecological services are promoted to reach the multiple ‘wins’ so desired: improved biodiversity conservation, economic development, (international) cooperation and poverty alleviation, amongst others. While critical scholarship with respect to understanding the linkages between neoliberalism, capitalism and the environment has a long tradition, a synthesized critique of neoliberal conservation - the ideology (and related practices) that the salvation of nature requires capitalist expansion - remains lacking. This paper aims to provide such a critique. We commence with the assertion that there has been a conflation between ‘economics’ and neoliberal ideology in conservation thinking and implementation. As a result, we argue, it becomes easier to distinguish the main problems that neoliberal win-win models pose for biodiversity conservation. These are framed around three points: the stimulation of contradictions; appropriation and misrepresentation and the disciplining of dissent. Inspired by Bruno Latour’s recent ‘compositionist manifesto’, the conclusion outlines some ideas for moving beyond critique.