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Silvio Gesell, Who Wanted To Create Money That Expired, Is Making A Comeback : Planet Money : NPR

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Silvio Gesell hated money. A German entrepreneur who moved to Argentina for business in the late 19th century, he witnessed a massive financial crash in 1890 that convinced him that money was behind the world's economic problems: poverty, inequality, unemployment, stagnation. The problem, Gesell believed, was that money served two roles that often came into conflict: It was a way for people to store wealth, and it was the thing everybody needed to conduct business. The fact that money could store wealth meant its holders had a reason to cling to it, especially in crises like the one he saw in Argentina, when opportunities to safely put that money elsewhere looked grim. It was a typical story. When people got scared, they hoarded cash and brought business to a standstill. It led, Gesell said, to a situation of "poverty amid plenty." Gesell wanted to create a new kind of money — a money that would "rot like potatoes" and "rust like iron" so no one would want to hoard it, a money that was

NPR Planet Money Newsletter LISTEN & FOLLOW NPR App Apple Podcasts Spotify Amazon Music iHeart Radio YouTube Music RSS link Sign up for the [TITLE] Newsletter Get perks with [Podcast Title]+ Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free feed. LEARN MORE --> Planet Money Newsletter The 'Strange, Unduly Neglected Prophet' August 27, 2019 6:30 AM ET Greg Rosalsky Enlarge this image Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons Editor's note: This is an excerpt of Planet Money 's newsletter. You can sign up here. Silvio Gesell hated money. A German entrepreneur who moved t

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