New IMF Study Makes Big Waves
This is a good, overall discussion by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard about an independent study conducted by former IMF officials Jeromir Benes and Michael Kumoff, who, until recently had served as Deputy Chief of the Modeling Division in the IMF Research Department. This study, released in August of 2012 validates the Chicago Plan submitted to the FDR administration as a solution to the economic depression of the 1930's. The Chicago Plan, developed by leading economists, became the basis for the development of the American Monetary Reform Act, and later, in legislative form, the NEED Act. Read the IMF study yourself.
More recently, Dr. Kumoff joined the staff at the Bank of England, where he, together with Zoltan Jakab, has already produced another ground-breaking "Working Paper" titled Banks are not intermediaries of loanable funds - and why this matters. Even if you are not a policy wonk, you can benefit from simply reading the Introduction/summary and the conclusion of this "working paper."
Here is a short video explaining why this reform is needed. The same website explains in detail how the English banking system, which is very similar to our own, creates "money" out of debt. The information is well worth perusing.
This article explains the original Chicago Plan.