Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles - The Ludwig von Mises ...

788 Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles5AN ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF THE PROCESS OFREFORM AND TRANSITION TOWARD THEPROPOSED MONETARY AND BANKING SYSTEMTo begin this section, we will briefly consider the majorissues involved in any political strategy for bringing abouteconomic reform in any area, including that of finance, credit,and money.A FEW BASIC STRATEGIC PRINCIPLESThe most serious danger to all reform strategies looms inthe political pragmatism of daily affairs, which often causesauthorities to abandon their ultimate goals on the groundsthat they are politically “impossible” to reach in the shortterm. This is a grave danger which in the past has sabotageddifferent programs for reform. Indeed, pragmatism has systematicallyprompted politicians to reach joint, ad hoc decisionsin order to acquire or retain political power, and thesedecisions have often been fundamentally incoherent andcounter-productive with respect to the most desirable longtermobjectives. Furthermore, as discussion has centeredexclusively on what is politically feasible in the immediateshort term, and final goals have been postponed or forgottenentirely, authorities have not completed the necessary,detailed study of these goals nor the process of spreadingthem to the people. As a result, the possibility of creating acoalition of interests in support of the reform is continuallyundermined, since other programs and objectives consideredmore urgent in the short term weaken and overshadow suchan effort.The most appropriate strategy for the reform we proposemust therefore rest on a dual principle. The first part consistsof constantly studying and educating the public about thesubstantial benefits they would derive from the achievementof the final medium- and long-term objectives. The secondpart involves the adoption of a short-term policy of gradualprogress toward these objectives, a policy which must always