Soundness, Trust, and the Real Case Against Fiat Money, by Peter C. Earle
Soundness, Trust, and the Real Case Against Fiat Money
Fiat currency may be unsound, poorly managed, or politically abused, but it is not counterfeit by nature, and conflating monetary soundness with legal authenticity undermines any attempt at economic debate. Counterfeiting has a precise meaning: the unauthorized creation of money or financial instruments that falsely purport to be genuine. The defining features are deception and impersonation: a counterfeit bill pretends to be issued by an authority that did not, in fact, issue it. Counterfeiting is a crime under the legal theory that it undermines trust in the monetary system by introducing fraudulent claims that mimic legitimate ones.