Never Touch the Money Question

Tom Woosnam will join The Jefferson Center in a discussion of the question of money. We all have to know something about money to function in modern society. But what is money, and what is the source of its value? Does economic historian Niall Ferguson have it right when he says: "Money is a matter of belief, even faith: belief in the person paying us; belief in the person issuing the money"? Tom will start off the discussion with a brief history of why we have money, its multifaceted forms and purpose, what makes money legitimate, and how banks fit into the picture. We'll consider analogies between household budgets and Federal Government budgets, examining concerns like: “How are we going to pay for it?”, “Our deficit is out of control and our kids and grandkids will be paying the price.”, “We can’t possibly have this social program because there’s no money to pay for it.”, and “We have to balance the budget." A crucial point, however, is that, as the issuer of US currency the Federal Government, unlike households, need never go bankrupt.

Tom's interest in these issues stems from his desire to apply logical reasoning and primary source evidence to problems, skills sharpened over 45 years of teaching high school physics and math. He holds a BSc from Imperial College, London, and an MA from Stanford, and is currently teaching an OLLI course on the key ideas of Modern Monetary Theory.
The program will be held in the Jefferson Center space, suite 101, in the Historic Ashland Armory. Light refreshments will be served. It is part of the Salon series of The Jefferson Center, a Rogue Valley non-profit focused on critical thinking using secular humanist values to understand and engage with issues important to our community. See http://www.thejeffcenter.org for more details on this and other events.

Please Tony Davis (tonydavis0@gmail.com) with your questions about this event.