Patrick Bolton

A novel perspective on monetary and fiscal policy that views money as the equity capital of a nation A conventional economic theory, monetarism, holds that inflation is a monetary phenomenon driven by changes in the supply of money. Yet recent experience—including the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 and the economic development of China—contradicts this basic prediction. In this book, leading economists Patrick Bolton and Haizhou Huang offer a novel perspective, viewing monetary economics through the lens of corporate finance. They propose a rich theory of money supply where money can be seen as the equity capital of a nation, playing a similar role as stocks for a company. This innovative framework integrates the real and monetary sides of the economy, with a banking sector and debt at its core. In the financial world, companies issue new shares only if it results in some kind of value creation; this is a basic principle of corporate finance that Bolton and Huang argue can be applied to monetary economics. When the government increases the money supply to finance positive net value investments—when it prints money to keep the economy going—it increases output, not inflation. This is evidenced by the strong growth in GDP and money in China over the last four decades, and in the United States during World War II. The effect of increasing money supply, they argue, depends on how money enters the system and what the money buys. The principles outlined by Bolton and Huang shed new light on a range of issues, including inflation, monetary and fiscal policy, central banking, money and growth, and the international monetary system.

A novel perspective on monetary and fiscal policy that views money as the equity capital of a nationA conventional economic theory, monetarism, holds that inflation is a monetary phenomenon driven by changes in the supply of money. Yet recent experience—including the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2008 and the economic development of China—contradict this basic prediction. In this book, leading economists Patrick Bolton and Haizhou Huang offer a novel perspective, viewing monetary economics through the lens of corporate finance. They propose a richer theory, where money can be seen as the equity capital of a nation, playing a similar role as stocks for a company. This innovative framework integrates the real and monetary sides of the economy, with a banking sector and debt at its core. In the financial world, companies issue new shares only if it results in some kind of value creation; this is a basic principle of corporate finance that Bolton and Huang argue can be applied to monetary economics. When the government increases the money supply to finance positive net value investments—when it prints money to keep the economy going—it increases output, not inflation. This is evidenced by the strong growth in GDP and money in China over the last four decades, and in the United States during World War II. The effect of increasing money supply, they argue, depends on how money enters the system and what the money buys. The principles outlined by Bolton and Huang shed new light on a range of issues, including inflation, monetary and fiscal policy, central banking, money and growth, and the international monetary system.

Intertwined with an account of the incessant human pursuit to gain advantages over each other for no justifiable reason, are stories relating to life in the motor trade in the 1960s and 70s. Observing the excessive amount of effort by Homo sapiens to dominate and misbehave using violence, our Classic Car Disciples apply their streetwise knowledge to demystify the history of warfare, popular science and religion. The Classic Car Disciples are group of men determined to prepare the human race for its future function and purpose in the Cosmos; uncovering the mysteries of the next life, and humanity's ultimate rebirth.

A comprehensive introduction to contract theory, emphasizing common themes and methodologies as well as applications in key areas. Despite the vast research literature on topics relating to contract theory, only a few of the field's core ideas are covered in microeconomics textbooks. This long-awaited book fills the need for a comprehensive textbook on contract theory suitable for use at the graduate and advanced undergraduate levels. It covers the areas of agency theory, information economics, and organization theory, highlighting common themes and methodologies and presenting the main ideas in an accessible way. It also presents many applications in all areas of economics, especially labor economics, industrial organization, and corporate finance. The book emphasizes applications rather than general theorems while providing self-contained, intuitive treatment of the simple models analyzed. In this way, it can also serve as a reference for researchers interested in building contract-theoretic models in applied contexts. The book covers all the major topics in contract theory taught in most graduate courses. It begins by discussing such basic ideas in incentive and information theory as screening, signaling, and moral hazard. Subsequent sections treat multilateral contracting with private information or hidden actions, covering auction theory, bilateral trade under private information, and the theory of the internal organization of firms; long-term contracts with private information or hidden actions; and incomplete contracts, the theory of ownership and control, and contracting with externalities. Each chapter ends with a guide to the relevant literature. Exercises appear in a separate chapter at the end of the book.