Ledger welcomes Dr. Michael Kumhof from the Bank of England to its Editorial Board, along with three new editors.

Ledger is very excited to announce the addition of economist and researcher Michael Kumhof to its Editorial Board.  Dr. Kumhof is Senior Research Advisor in the new Research Hub of the Bank of England, where he co-leads and helps to formulate its research agenda. His main research interests include monetary reform (including digital currencies), the role of banks in the macro-economy, and the role of economic inequality in causing imbalances and crisis.  

Prior to his position with the Bank of England, he served as Deputy Division Chief in the International Monetary Fund’s Modeling Division. In his 2012 IMF working paper, “The Chicago Plan Revisited,” he and co-author Jaromir Benes analyze the banking reforms proposed by University of Chicago economists in the wake of the Great Depression—but applied to the economy and monetary system of today.  Of interest to the cryptocurrency community, a key feature of the Chicago Plan was that it “called for the separation of the monetary and credit functions of the banking system,” by “requiring 100% backing of deposits,” and by “ensuring that the financing of new bank credit can only take place through earnings that have been retained” and “not through the creation of new deposits, ex nihilo, by banks.”   In analyzing this plan, Kumhof also considers the origin and nature of money in Chapter II, rejecting the “barter theory” in favor of the existence of informal credit systems.  

Michael taught economics at Stanford University from 1998 to 2004 and worked in corporate banking for Barclays Bank from 1988 to 1993. He is also well-known for his published work, which has appeared in the journals AER, JME, AEJ Macro, JIE, JEDC, JMCB, EER, and the Journal of Macroeconomics, among others. We are honored to have Dr. Kumhof join us and we look forward to working with him. Welcome Michael! *** At this time, we are also pleased to introduce three new editors to the editorial team at Ledger:  Charles Evans joins us from Miami, Florida, USA.  Prof. Evans is Associate Professor of Economics and Finance at Barry University and Executive Director of Conscious Entrepreneurship Foundation, which promotes the use of Bitcoin and other fintech innovations among the 80+% of the world's population that is unbanked or underbanked. Welcome Charles!   Antony Zegers joins us from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  Mr. Zegers holds a M.A.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, is a long-time Bitcoin enthusiast, and for twelve years performed operational research and analysis for Defence Research and Development Canada. Welcome Antony! Josh Westmoreland joins us from Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, where he works as an attorney with interests in the legal implications of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.  Josh is also an advocate of scholarly publishing, having previously served as Senior Articles Editor for the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review.  Welcome Josh!