Since the cost of supplying money to the economy is practically zero (ignoring the cost of printing money) optimality requires that the economy should be satiated with money. In other words, money is a free good from the point of view of society as a whole; hence its quantity should be expanded to the point where it cannot increase utility (or output) in the economy, i.e., to the point where the alternative cost of holding it is zero. In a competitive economy this means that the money rate of interest should be driven down to zero. One way of doing this would be to pay interest on money equal to the real rate of return on real capital. An alternative possibility is a rate of price deflation equal again to the rate of return on real assets. Professor Johnson provides a convincing argument in favor of the first policy and against deflationary measures. We believe, however, that the "optimum" which both policies are designed to achieve is not, in general, an appropriate target of monetar
Yosef Tekoah, Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, will be principal speaker at the Histadrut Third Seder on Saturday evening, April 25th, at the Waldorf-Astoria. The Passover fete will pay tribute to Histadrut, the Israel labor federation, on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee. A highlight of the Third Seder program will be a special Haggadah, "Voice of Jubilee," based on traditional and contemporary sources, that combines the story of the Exodus from Egypt with the twentieth century return of the Jews to the land of Israel. Shlomo Kaplan, head of the Histadrut Music Department in Tel. Aviv, has come to New York especially to supervise the musical phases of the program, which are based on a Golden Jubilee festival staged in Jerusalem last January. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]
