Peter A. Johnson

In recent years governments have increasingly given their central banks the freedom to pursue policies of price stability. In particular, the German Bundesbank and the U.S. Federal Reserve have been widely considered models of autonomous policymaking. This book traces the origins of their success to the political struggle to adopt monetarism in Germany and the United States. The Government of Money contends that the political involvement of monetarist economists was central to this endeavor. The book examines the initiatives undertaken by monetarists from 1970 to 1985 and the policies that resulted once their ideas were enacted. Taking a historical approach to major issues of political economy, Peter A. Johnson describes both the political efforts of the monetarist economists to convert central banks to their preferred policies and the resistance offered by traditionalist central bankers, politicians, and financial and labor interests. Johnson concludes that monetarist ideas succeeded in part because their supporters convincingly claimed that price stability would promote political stability. He thereby challenges important assumptions about politics and policymaking in both countries and reveals the often hidden influence of monetary policy on the health of capitalist democracies.

Monetarism in Germany and the United States

The Government of Money

S. Kent Brown

The blend of scholarship and artistry of the DVD documentary Journey of Faith (Maxwell Institute, 2006) continues in expanded form in the book Journey of Faith: From Jerusalem to the Promised Land. Containing numerous threads of historical detail and scholarly insight not included in the DVD, this visually stunning look at the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi's trek through the harsh Arabian desert reflects a synergistic collaboration of talented scholars, artists, and photographers seeking to illuminate an epic event in scriptural history and situate it in a real-world setting. Aside from assembling commentary and images from the DVD, this book includes a foreword by the editors, their reflections on the project in two separate chapters, additional commentary by scholars, an appendix on the famed Incense Trail across the Arabian Peninsula, and a bibliography.

Peter A. Johnson

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