Constitutional Money
A Review of the Supreme Court's Monetary Decisions

This book analyzes nine Supreme Court decisions that dealt primarily with money, monetary events and monetary policy.

Richard H. Timberlake (Author)

9781107032545, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 April 2013

257 pages, 3 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.8 cm, 0.47 kg

'Professor Timberlake's Constitutional Money embodies abundant research by himself and other scholars. His review of Supreme Court decisions, both majority opinions and dissents, makes a fascinating story with elements of suspense. Timberlake writes smoothly, with flashes of brilliant phrasing and an attractive mix of short and moderately long sentences.' Leland B. Yeager, Auburn University and the University of Virginia

This book reviews nine Supreme Court cases and decisions that dealt with monetary laws and gives a summary history of monetary events and policies as they were affected by the Court's decisions. Several cases and decisions had notable consequences on the monetary history of the United States, some of which were blatant misjudgments stimulated by political pressures. The cases included in this book begin with McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819 and end with the Gold Clause Cases in 1934–5. Constitutional Money examines three institutions that were prominent in these decisions: the Supreme Court, the gold standard and the Federal Reserve System. The final chapter describes the adjustments necessary to return to a gold standard and briefly examines the constitutional alternatives.

1. The current state of monetary affairs in the United States
2. Emergence of money in civilized societies
3. Bimetallic monetary systems and appearance of a national bank
4. McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819, and the Second Bank of the United States
5. 'To coin money and regulate the value thereof'
6. Craig v. Missouri, 1830
7. Briscoe v. Bank of Kentucky, 1837
8. Government issues of treasury notes and greenbacks
9. Track of the legal tender bills through Congress, 1862–3
10. Bronson v. Rodes, 1868
11. Veazie Bank v. Fenno, 1869
12. Hepburn v. Griswold, 1870: the legal tender issue
13. Knox v. Lee and Parker v. Davis, 1871: reversal of Hepburn
14. Monetary affairs in the United States, 1871–83
15. Juilliard v. Greenman, 1884: the final legal tender decision
16. Judicial commentaries on the legal tender cases: sovereignty
17. Other commentaries on the legal tender cases
18. The [Gold] Currency Act of 1900: monetary affairs in the United States before 1914
19. The Federal Reserve System, 1914–29
20. The great monetary contraction, 1929–33
21. Gold! Where was it? What happened to it?
22. The Gold Clause Cases, 1934–5
23. Gold and money in the twentieth century
24. A Constitutional monetary system.

Subject Areas: Finance [KFF], Economic history [KCZ], Economics [KC]