Silvio Gesell

Silvio Gesell (German: [ɡəˈzɛl]; 17 March 1862 – 11 March 1930) was a German merchant, theoretical economist, social activist, Georgist, anarchist, libertarian socialist,[1] and founder of Freiwirtschaft. In 1900 he founded the magazine Geld-und Bodenreform (Monetary and Land Reform), but it soon closed for financial reasons. During one of his stays in Argentina, where he lived in a vegetarian commune, Gesell started the magazine Der Physiokrat together with Georg Blumenthal. In 1914, it closed due to censorship.

Silvio Gesell
Born(1862-03-17)17 March 1862
Sankt Vith, Prussia (present-day Belgium)
Died11 March 1930(1930-03-11) (aged 67)
Oranienburg, Weimar Republic
NationalityGerman Empire
FieldMonetary theory, monetary and land reform
School or
tradition		Freiwirtschaft
InfluencesTheodor Hertzka
Henry George
Pierre Joseph Proudhon

The Bavarian Soviet Republic, in which he participated, had a violent end and Gesell was detained for several months on a charge of treason, but was acquitted by a Munich court after a speech he gave in his own defence.

Life

Silvio Gesell's mother was Walloon and his father was German, originally from Aachen, who worked as a clerk in the then-Prussian district of Malmedy, now part of Belgium. Silvio was the seventh of nine children.

After visiting the public Bürgerschule in Sankt Vith, he attended Gymnasium in Malmedy. Being forced to pay for his living expenses from an early age, he decided against attending a university and worked for the Deutsche Reichspost, the postal system of the German Empire. Dissatisfied, he began an apprenticeship to his merchant brother in Berlin. Then he lived in Málaga, Spain for two years, working as a correspondent. He then returned to Berlin involuntarily to complete his military service. After this, he worked as a merchant in Brunswick and Hamburg.

In 1887, Gesell relocated to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he opened a franchise of his brother's business. The 1890 depression in Argentina, which hurt his business considerably, caused him to think about the structural problems caused by the monetary system. In 1891, he released his first writing on this topic: Die Reformation des Münzwesens als Brücke zum sozialen Staat (The Reformation of the Monetary System as a Bridge to a Social State). He then wrote Nervus Rerum and The Nationalization of Money. He gave his business to his brother and returned to Europe in 1892.

After a stay in Germany, Gesell relocated to Les Hauts-Geneveys in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. He farmed in order to support himself while continuing his economic studies. In 1900, he created the magazine Geld- und Bodenreform (Monetary and Land Reform), but it failed in 1903 for financial reasons.

From 1907 to 1911, Gesell was in Argentina again, then he returned to Germany and lived in the vegetarian commune Obstbausiedlung Eden, which was founded by Franz Oppenheimer in Oranienburg, north of Berlin. There, he founded the magazine Der Physiokrat together with Georg Blumenthal. It folded in 1914 due to censorship as World War I began.[2]

In 1915, Gesell left Germany to return to his farm in Les Hauts-Geneveys. In 1919, he was asked to join the Bavarian Soviet Republic by Ernst Niekisch. The republic offered him a seat on the Socialization Commission and then appointed him the People's Representative for Finances. Gesell chose the Swiss mathematician Theophil Christen and the economist Ernst Polenske as his assistants and immediately wrote a law for the creation of Freigeld, a currency system he had developed. His term of office lasted only seven days. After the violent end of the Bavarian Soviet Republic, Gesell was detained for several months until being acquitted of treason[2] by a Munich court. Because of his participation with the Soviet Republic, Switzerland denied him return to his farm in Neuchâtel.

Gesell then relocated first to Nuthetal, Potsdam-Mittelmark, then back to Oranienburg. After another brief stay in Argentina during 1924, he returned to Oranienburg in 1927. There, he died of pneumonia on 11 March 1930.

He promoted his ideas in German and in Spanish.

Villa Gesell, a seaside town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina was founded by his son, Don Carlos Idaho Gesell, who named it after his father.[3]

Economic philosophy

Gesell considered himself a world citizen and was inspired by Henry George to believe that the earth should belong to all people, regardless of race, gender, class, wealth, religion, or age and that borders should be made obsolete. But his land reform proposal was different from Georgism. He believed that taxes could not solve the problem of rent on land,[4] as taxes could be transferred to tenants.[5] He thought we must abolish the private ownership of land and put free-land reform, a sort of public lease of land, into effect.[6]

According to Silvio Gesell, it is not effective to establish welfare systems without abolishing private ownership of land because the proceeds of the labor of workers are determined by the proceeds of labor that they can obtain on free land.[7] The benefits gained by the welfare system are not to increase the proceeds of labor that workers can obtain on free land, but rather to increase the proceeds of labor that they can obtain on the lands of landowners. Private ownership of land converts all the advantages of using one's land into cash and it belongs to the landowner.[8][5] In order not to cancel the effects of welfare policies, Silvio Gesell's Free-Land reform is needed.

Gesell based his economic thought on the self-interest of individuals, which he saw as a "natural" and healthy motive, in satisfying their needs and being productive. Gesell believed that an economic system must do justice to individual proclivities; otherwise the system would fail. He believed that this stance put him in opposition to Marxism, which, Gesell considered, proposed an economic system that was against human nature.

Believing that the talent and selfishness of individuals must be taken into account, Gesell called for free, fair business competition, with equal chances for all. This included the removal of all legal and inherited privilege. Everyone should rely only on their abilities to make a living. In the "natural economic order" which Gesell recommended, the most talented people would have the greatest income, without distortion by interest and rent charges. The economic status of the less-talented would improve because they would not be forced to pay interest and rent charges. According to Gesell, this would result in less difference between the poor and the rich. Furthermore, greater average incomes would mean that the poor would have a greater chance of escaping poverty, in part because other poor people would have greater disposable income and spending power.

Some regard Gesell's idea as a negative interest rate policy. The difference between them is that, with the free-money reforms of Gesell, hoarding money becomes impossible because the face-value of money is depreciated regularly. This forces the circulation of money.[9] With negative interest, on the contrary, there is the possibility of hoarding money because the face value of money is constant and people can use their money as a means of saving. For example, Japan's negative interest rates are driving up the sales of safes and strongboxes.[10]

Gesell denied value theory in economics. He thought that value theory is useless and prevents economics from becoming science and that a currency administration guided by value theory is doomed to sterility and inactivity.[11]

Opinions of Gesell

Some opinions about Gesell:[12]

Free money may turn out to be the best regulator of the velocity of circulation of money, which is the most confusing element in the stabilization of the price level. Applied correctly it could in fact haul us out of the crisis in a few weeks ... I am a humble servant of the merchant Gesell.

— Prof. Dr. Irving Fisher, economist, Yale University[13]

Gesell's chiefwork is written in cool and scientific terms, although it is run through by a more passionate and charged devotion to social justice than many think fit for a scholar. I believe that the future will learn more from Gesell’s than from Marx’s spirit.

— John Maynard Keynes, economist, Fellow of King's College, Cambridge[14]

Gesell's standpoint is both anticlassical and antimarxist... The uniqueness of Gesell's theory lies in his attitude to social reform. His theory can only be understood considering his general point of view as a reformer ... His analysis is not completely developed in several important points, but all in all his model shows no fault.

— Prof. Dr. Dudley Dillard, economist, University of Maryland [15]

We would especially like to certify our great esteem for pioneers such as Proudhon, Walras, and Silvio Gesell, who accomplished the great reconciliation of individualism and collectivism that the economic order we are striving for must rest upon.

— Prof. Dr. Maurice Allais, economist, University of Paris[16]

Academic economists are ready to ignore the 'crackpots', especially the monetary reformers. Johannsen, Foster and Catchings, Hobson and Gesell all had brilliant contributions to make in our day, but could receive no audience. It is hoped, that in the future economists will give a sympathetic ear to those who possess great economic intuition.

— Prof. Dr. Lawrence Klein, economist, University of Pennsylvania[17]

Economic science owes Silvio Gesell profound insights into the nature of money and interest, but Silvio Gesell has always been considered a queer fellow by economic circles. To be sure, he was no professor, which already raises suspicion... The decisive fact is that Silvio Gesell's fundamental ideas with regard to an economic order are correct and exemplary. Exemplary is furthermore, that in the creation of a functional monetary order he should see the 'nervus rerum' of a functional economic and social order.

— Prof. Dr. Joachim Starbatty, economist, University of Tübingen[18]

Silvio Gesell managed to write clearly and make himself understood, a gift that most pure theorists and reformers as well as many practical experts of today lack. The Natural Economic Order makes worthwhile reading even in our days... Gesell developed brilliant concepts and was forgotten, while his less brilliant contemporaries ... dazzled several generations before the realization of their falseness could break through.

— Prof. Dr. Oswald Hahn, economist, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg[19]

Gesell is a smart outsider, who ... treated the subjects of money and interest, the right to full proceeds from labor and suggestions for remedies, in a very original way ... The ideas he conceived regarding his problems and what he deemed appropriate for the crises of his times are worth considering with respect to a fundamental improvement of monetary conditions in general.

— Prof. Dr. Dieter Suhr, jurist, University of Augsburg[20]

Gesell is the founder of the free economy, an economic outsider who nevertheless was recognized by Keynes, in a certain sense, as his forerunner. He is therefore still considered to be above all a Keynesian economist, even a kind of hyper-Keynesian, that is to say, an advocate of a school that propagates the lowest (nominal) interest rate possible as a means of avoiding crises. Gesell, however, also recognized that the problem of a crisis cannot be solved solely by reducing the rates of interest... Gesell suggests, therefore, as the necessary correlative to the introduction of 'free money' ... the introduction of ‘free land’... Gesell's chief work thus carries the title ‘A Natural Economic Order Through Free Land (!) and Free Money’. It proves that the real aspects of an economy – that is to say, the claim on land or resources – must never be lost from view, even if primary importance is attached to monetary factors. This was recognized more clearly by Gesell than by Keynes.

— Prof. Dr. Hans C. Binswanger, economist, College of Economic and Social Sciences Academy at St. Gallen/Switzerland[21]

Works

In German
  • Die Reformation des Münzwesens als Brücke zum sozialen Staat. Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1891
  • Die Verstaatlichung des Geldes. Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1892
  • Die Anpassung des Geldes und seiner Verwaltung an die Bedürfnisse des modernen Verkehrs. Herpig & Stieveken, Buenos Aires 1897
  • Die argentinische Geldwirtschaft und ihre Lehren. 1900
  • Das Monopol der schweizerischen Nationalbank und die Grenzen der Geldausgabe im Falle einer Sperrung der freien Goldausprägung. K. J. Wyss, Bern 1901
  • Die Verwirklichung des Rechts auf den vollen Arbeitsertrag durch die Geld- und Bodenreform. Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys/Leipzig 1906
  • Die neue Lehre von Geld und Zins. Physiokratischer Verlag, Berlin/Leipzig 1911
  • Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld. Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys 1916; 9. Auflage herausgegeben von Karl Walker: Rudolf Zitzmann Verlag, Lauf 1949 (PDF; 1,4 MB)
  • Gold oder Frieden? Vortrag, gehalten in Bern am 28. April 1916. Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys 1916
  • Freiland, die eherne Forderung des Friedens. Vortrag, gehalten im Weltfriedensbund in Zürich am 5. Juli 1917 in Zürich. Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys 1917
  • Der Abbau des Staates nach Einführung der Volksherrschaft. Denkschrift an die zu Weimar versammelten Nationalräte. Verlag des Freiland-Freigeld-Bundes, Berlin-Steglitz 1919
  • Die gesetzliche Sicherung der Kaufkraft des Geldes durch die absolute Währung. Denkschrift zu einer Eingabe an die Nationalversammlung. Selbstverlag, Berlin/Weimar 1919
  • Das Reichswährungsamt. Wirtschaftliche, politische und finanzielle Vorbereitung für seine Einrichtung. Freiland-Freigeldverlag, Rehbrücke 1920
  • Internationale Valuta-Assoziation (IVA). Voraussetzung des Weltfreihandels – der einzigen für das zerrissene Deutschland in Frage kommenden Wirtschaftspolitik. Freiwirtschaftlicher Verlag, Sontra 1920
  • Die Freiwirtschaft vor Gericht. Mit einer Einleitung von Richard Hoffmann. Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Erfurt/Bern 1920
  • An das deutsche Volk! Kundgebung des Freiwirtschaftlichen Kongresses zu Hannover. Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Erfurt 1921
  • Deutsche Vorschläge für die Neugründung des Völkerbundes und die Überprüfung des Versailler Vertrages. Öffentlicher Vortrag, gehalten in der Aula des Gymnasiums zu Barmen am 20. Dezember 1920. Verlag des Freiland-Freigeld-Bundes, Barmen-Elberfeld 1921
  • Die Wissenschaft und die Freiland-Freigeldlehre. Kritik und Erwiderung. Ohne Verfasserangabe erschienen. Erfurt/Berlin 1921
  • Denkschrift für die Gewerkschaften zum Gebrauch bei ihren Aktionen in der Frage der Währung, der Valuta und der Reparationen. Selbstverlag, Berlin-Rehbrücke 1922
  • Die Ausbeutung, ihre Ursachen und ihre Bekämpfung. Zweite Denkschrift für die deutschen Gewerkschaften zum Gebrauch bei ihren Aktionen gegen den Kapitalismus. Vortrag, gehalten in der Sozialistischen Vereinigung zur gegenseitigen Weiterbildung in Dresden am 8. Mai 1922. Selbstverlag, Berlin-Rehbrücke 1922
  • Die Diktatur in Not. Sammelruf für die Staatsmänner Deutschlands. Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Erfurt 1922
  • Das Trugbild der Auslandsanleihe und ein neuer Vorschlag zum Reparationsproblem. Eine weltwirtschaftliche Betrachtung, eine Warnung vor Illusionen und ein positiver Lösungsvorschlag. Freiwirtschaftlicher Verlag, Erfurt 1922
  • unter dem Pseudonym Juan Acratillo: Der verblüffte Sozialdemokrat. 1922 (PDF)
  • Der Aufstieg des Abendlandes. Vorlesung, gehalten zu Pfingsten 1923 in Basel auf dem 1. Internationalen Freiland-Freigeld-Kongress. Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Berlin/ Bern, 1923.
  • mit Hans Bernoulli und Fritz Roth: Das Problem der Grundrente. Einleitende Gedanken zu einer wissenschaftlichen Abklärung. Selbstverlag des Schweizer Freiwirtschaftsbundes, Bern 1925
  • Die allgemeine Enteignung im Lichte physiokratischer Ziele. Selbstverlag, Potsdam 1926
  • Der abgebaute Staat. Leben und Treiben in einem gesetz- und sittenlosen hochstrebenden Kulturvolk. A. Burmeister Verlag, Berlin-Friedenau 1927
  • Reichtum und Armut gehören nicht in einen geordneten Staat. Werkauswahl zum 150. Geburtstag, zusammengestellt von Werner Onken. Verlag für Sozialökonomie, Kiel 2011, ISBN 978-3-87998-462-6

In Spanish
  • Nervus rerum. Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1891
  • El Sistema Monetario Argentino. Sus Ventajas y su Perfeccionamento. Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1893
  • La Cuestion Monetaria Argentina. Buenos Aires 1898
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See also

References
  1. Hakim Bey, T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism, Autonomedia, 2003, p. 125: "Gesell ... and other anti-authoritatian and extreme libertarian socialists".
  2. Onken, Werner (October 2000). "The Political Economy of Silvio Gesell: A Century of Activism". American Journal of Economics and Sociology. 59 (4): 615–616. doi:10.1111/1536-7150.00046. JSTOR 3487828.
  3. "El Museo de Villa Gesell". Official website of Villa Gesell (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 24 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 November 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Bershidsky, Leonid. "'Neglected Prophet' of Economics Got It Right". Bloomberg View. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  10. Shen, Lucinda (23 February 2016). "Japan's Negative Interest Rates Are Driving up Sales of Safes". Fortune. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. The Future of Economy – A Memoir of Economics (1984) International Association for a Natural Economic Order (Ed.)
  13. Stamp Scrip, New York: 1933, p. 67 and Mail and Empire, Toronto: 21 November 1932.
  14. General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, London (1957), p. 355 (whole text on Gesell p. 353–358 and 379).
  15. "Gesell's Monetary Theory of Social Reform", American Economic Review (AER), Vol 32 (1942), p. 348–349.
  16. Economie et Intérêt, Paris 1947, p. 613.
  17. The Keynesian Revolution (1949–1968), p. 152.
  18. Eine kritischeWürdigung der Geldordnung in Silvio Gesells utopischem Barataria (cheapland). Fragen der Freiheit Nr. 129 / 1977, pp. 6 and 30–31.
  19. In memoriam Silvio Gesell. Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen, Vol. 33 (1980), No. 6, p. 5.
  20. Geld ohne Mehrwert – Entlastung der Marktwirtschaft von monetären Transaktionskosten. Frankfurt 1983, pp. 17, 51.
  21. Arbeit ohne Umweltzerstörung – Strategien einer neuen Wirtschaftspolitik. Frankfurt 1983, pp. 246–248.
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