Name Edward Kellogg | Role Economist | |
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Died April 29, 1858, New York, United States Books A New Monetary System: The Only Means of Securing the Respective Rights of Labor and Property, and of Protecting the Public from Financial Revulsions | ||
Edward Kellogg (October 18, 1790 in Norwalk, Connecticut – April 29, 1858 in New York) was a businessman and self-taught economist. His ideas influenced the policies of the Greenback and Populist parties.
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Life and career
After a brief stint in business in Norwalk, he relocated to New York City and established Edward Kellogg & Co., a wholesale dry goods firm, which he operated until 1837. By that time, he was heavily invested in real estate in Brooklyn and moved his family there to facilitate the management of his properties. This, together with his financial studies, would occupy most of his time for the remainder of his life.
Economic ideas
Following the Panic of 1837, he began to think about the monetary system and what he believed its faults were. He was especially concerned about interest, which could often reach usurious levels. His first proposal was that all paper money should be issued by the government. (At that time, most banks issued their own private paper notes.) The government's notes would be low interest and backed by real estate. Simultaneously, the government would issue bonds (at the same interest rate) that could be exchanged for the notes. This, he believed, would keep interest rates tied to actual economic growth. The notes could also be redeemed for gold or silver, twice yearly, and would be insured by a National Safety Fund.
Works
In 1843 Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, convinced Kellogg to publish his opinions. They were issued in tabloid form under the title "Usury: the Evil and Remedy". With a few additions and changes, it was reprinted the next year as a pamphlet, under the pseudonym Godek Gardwell, and renamed "Currency: the Evil and Remedy". In 1849, it was given the title "Labor and Other Capital" and published as a book. His daughter put out a new edition in 1861 and it was retitled again, as "A New Monetary System",