The Economic Ethics of Ezra Pound

Abstract

The poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) was a moralist who regarded economics as key to understanding human society, and thereby to solve most social problems. He became a prolific writer of economic texts, in which he espoused the ideas of two heretic economists: Major Clifford Douglas’ social credit and national dividend, and Silvio Gesell’s perishable currency. Pound’s economic thought has long been neglected, but in times of financial crisis his crusade against bankers and his utopian visions might make a timely come back. It is therefore unfortunate that, of Pound’s economic lessons, the morally most compelling are also those less economically sound.