Editing Silvio Gesell

{{Short description|German-Argentine economist (1862–1930)}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Expand German|Silvio Gesell|topic=bio|date=April 2025}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=August 2015}}
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{{use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox economist
 | school_tradition = {{unbulleted list|style= white-space:nowrap; |{{lang|de|[[Freiwirtschaft]]}} |[[Market socialism]]}}
 | image   = Silvio Gesell (1895).jpg
 | image_caption    =Gesell in 1895
 | name             = Silvio Gesell
 | children         = [[Villa Gesell#History|Carlos Idaho Gesell]]
 | birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=y|1862|3|17}}
 | birth_place      = [[Sankt Vith]], [[Rhine Province]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
 | death_date       = {{Death date and age|df=y|1930|3|11|1862|3|17}}
 | death_place      = [[Oranienburg]], [[Brandenburg]], [[Weimar Republic]]
 | nationality      = German
 | notable_works    = ''[[The Natural Economic Order]]'' (1916)
 | field            = [[Monetary theory]], [[Interest]], [[Monetary reform]], [[Land reform]]
 | influences       = [[Theodor Hertzka]]<br>[[Henry George]]<br>[[Pierre Joseph Proudhon]]
 | contributions    = [[Demurrage currency]], [[Unearned income]]
}}

'''Johann Silvio Gesell''' ({{IPA|de|ɡəˈzɛl|lang}}; 17 March 1862 – 11 March 1930) was a [[German-Argentine]] [[economist]], [[entrepreneur]], and [[social reformer]]. He was the founder of {{lang|de|[[Freiwirtschaft]]}} ([[German language|German]] for "free economy"), an economic model for [[market socialism]].<ref name="onken-2000">{{cite journal|last=Onken|first=Werner|date=October 2000|journal=American Journal of Economics and Sociology|volume=59|issue=4|title=The Political Economy of Silvio Gesell: A Century of Activism |pages=615–616|jstor=3487828|doi=10.1111/1536-7150.00046}}</ref> In 1900, he founded the magazine ''The Money and Land Reform'' ({{langx|de|Die Geld- und Bodenreform}}), but it soon closed for financial reasons. During his time in [[Oranienburg]], Gesell started the magazine ''Der Physiokrat'' together with {{ill|lt=Georg Blumenthal|Georg Blumenthal (Schriftsteller)|de}}. In 1914, it closed due to censorship. In 1916, he published his most famous work, ''[[The Natural Economic Order]]''.

Gesell is mainly known for his [[monetary theory]]. In particular, he noticed that there is an assymmetry between the durability and [[Hoarding (economics)|hoardability]] of [[money]] versus the fragility and [[depreciation]] of goods and services that lose value due to [[entropy]] and the passage of time.<ref name="baynham-2023">{{cite web |url=https://www.noemamag.com/what-if-money-expired/ |title=What If Money Expired? |last=Baynham |first=Jacob |date=14 November 2023 |website=Noema Magazine |publisher=Berggruen Institute |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref><ref name="Gesell-NPR">{{cite web |last=Rosalsky |first=Greg |date=27 August 2019 |title=The 'Strange, Unduly Neglected Prophet' |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2019/08/27/754323652/the-strange-unduly-neglected-prophet |publisher=NPR |access-date=17 April 2025}}</ref> He believed that people who own or hoard money have an unfair economic advantage over people who are dependent on producing and selling decayable goods and services for their livelihoods. Gesell theorized that the premium conferred to those who own hoardable money was responsible for the creation of [[interest rate]]s and [[recession]]s,<ref name="baynham-2023"/><ref name="Gesell-NPR"/> which later influenced [[John Maynard Keynes]]'s theory of [[liquidity preference]].<ref name="baynham-2023"/> To resolve this problem, Gesell proposed inventing a new [[Demurrage currency|form of money that depreciates over time]] ({{langx|de|Freigeld}}).<ref name="baynham-2023"/><ref name="Gesell-NPR"/>

Gesell also supported [[Georgism|free land]] ({{langx|de|Freiland}}) and [[free trade]] ({{langx|de|Freihandel}}).
He disagreed with [[Henry George]] that [[land value tax]]es could solve the problem of land rent,<ref name="NEO-part-1-intro">{{Cite web |last=Gesell |first=Silvio |title=Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld |trans-title=The Natural Economic Order/Part I/Introduction |date=1916 |location=Bern, Switzerland |translator-last=Pye |translator-first=Philip |via=The Anarchist Library |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317140424/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc4 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |access-date=30 April 2025 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781610330442}}</ref> as he believed that the taxes could be passed onto the tenants.<ref name="NEO-part-1-chap-11">{{Cite web |last=Gesell |first=Silvio |title=Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld |trans-title=The Natural Economic Order/Part I/Chapter 11: Legislative Interference With Rent And Wages |date=1916 |location=Bern, Switzerland |translator-last=Pye |translator-first=Philip |via=The Anarchist Library |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317140424/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc15 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |access-date=30 April 2025 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781610330442}}</ref>
Instead, he proposed that public ownership of land should be accomplished by making the government [[Eminent domain|purchase all land from current landowners]] through a massive amount of government [[land bonds]], which would be paid over in 20 years by [[leasing]] the land through a system of competitive bidding for leases.<ref name="baynham-2023"/>
This would achieve many of the intended effects of Georgism, but two of the main differences are that it would compensate previous landowners through bond payments and it would not be necessary to repeatedly [[Real estate appraisal|re-appraise]] the value of land.<ref name="sidman-lecture-7">{{cite AV media |last=Sidman |first=Josh |date=10 April 2024 |title="Silvio Gesell: Beyond Capitalism vs Socialism" Class #7 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeClotFiTDA?t=1253 |type=Video |language=English |publisher=Henry George School of Economics |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref>

On suggestion of [[Erich Mühsam|Erich Müchsam]] and [[Gustav Landauer]], he served as the [[finance minister]] of the [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] for eight days in 1919. The republic had a violent end, and Gesell was detained for several months on a charge of treason, but was acquitted by a Munich court after he gave a speech in his own defense.<ref name="onken-2000"/>

In the second half of 20th century, Gesell's ideas were published and discussed only in the limited circle of his supporters. Since the beginning of the century, Gesell has caught increasing attention among the general public. The reasons for this include discussions about [[local currencies]] and [[cryptocurrencies]], the [[zero interest-rate policy]] of some [[central bank]]s, and a desire by some economists to turn interest rates negative.<ref name="Gesell-NPR"/><ref name="Gesell-NYT">{{Cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/business/economy/19view.html |title=It May Be Time for the Fed to Go Negative |work=The New York Times |first=N. Gregory |last=Mankiw |author-link=N. Gregory Mankiw |date=18 April 2009}}</ref><ref name="cleveland-fed-2008">{{cite web |url=https://www.clevelandfed.org/-/media/project/clevelandfedtenant/clevelandfedsite/publications/economic-commentary/2008/ec-20080401-stamp-scrip-money-people-paid-to-use-pdf.pdf |title=Stamp Scrip: Money People Paid To Use |last=Champ |first=Bruce |date=April 2008 |website=Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland |publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Research Department |access-date=21 April 2025}}</ref><ref name="wolfgang-2007">Wolfgang Broer: ''Schwundgeld: Bürgermeister Michael Unterguggenberger und das Wörgler Währungsexperiment 1932/33'', 2007, p. 323, {{ISBN|3706544725}}, 9783706544726.</ref>

==Life==
Silvio Jean Gesell was a son of a marriage between Ernst and Mathilde Gesell, the seventh of nine children. His mother was a daughter of Nicolas and Jeanette Joseph Talbots. She was [[Walloons|Walloon]] and his father, Ernst Gesell, was [[Germans|German]], originally from [[Aachen]]. He was a secretary of the earlier [[Prussian]] {{ill|Kreis Malmedy|de}}, now part of [[Belgium]]. His birthhouse is located in St. Vither Rathausstraße 81. The building is decorated with a commemorative plaque. His grandmother Jeanette Talbots, who Gesell was given his middle name after, was daughter of the well-known St. Vither builder Josef Lentz. Before her marriage, she worked in [[Verviers]] and [[Andenne]] as a teacher Don Carlos, [[prince of Capua]] and brother of [[Francis II of the Two Sicilies]].

[[File:Casa Gesell.jpg|thumb|The company headquarters, the "Casa Gesell", in Buenos Aires]]

After attending public school in [[Sankt Vith]], he moved to the [[Gymnasium (school)|Gymnasium]] in [[Malmedy]]. He had to pay for his living expenses from an early age and could not afford higher education, so he decided against attending a university and worked for the German ''[[Reichspost]]'', the [[mail|postal system]] of the [[German Empire]]. However, he was dissatisfied with the job, so he began an apprenticeship to his merchant brothers in [[Berlin]]. He then lived in [[Málaga]], [[Spain]] for two years, working as a correspondent. He then returned to Berlin to complete his [[Conscription in Germany|compulsory military service]]. Subsequently, he worked as a merchant in [[Braunschweig]] and [[Hamburg]].

In 1887, Gesell relocated to [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], where he became self-employed and opened a [[Franchising|franchise]] of his brother's business in Berlin. The [[Baring crisis|1890 depression in Argentina]] hurt his business considerably, so he transferred ownership of his Argentinian franchise to his brother in 1890. The ongoing economic crisis caused him to think about the structural problems caused by the [[money|monetary system]]. In 1891, Gesell released his first theoretical writing on currency: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5088112_Silvio_Gesell's_Theory_and_Accelerated_Money_Experiments The Reformation of the Monetary System as a Bridge to a Social State] ({{langx|de|Die Reformation des Münzwesens als Brücke zum sozialen Staat}}). He also wrote and published ''The Nerve of Things'' ({{langx|la|Nervus rerum}}, 1891) and ''The nationalization of money'' ({{langx|de|Die Verstaatlichung des Geldes, 1892}}). He returned to Europe in 1892.

After a short stay in Germany, Gesell settled in [[Les Hauts-Geneveys]] in the [[Canton of Neuchâtel]] in [[Switzerland]], where he acquired a farm. In addition to working in agriculture, he dedicated himself to studying economics and writing.
He completed his [[self-taught]] education by reading the works of the most important economists, trying to contrast their monetary theories. Judging by the quotations, he read [[David Hume]], [[Adam Smith]], [[David Ricardo]], [[Karl Marx]], [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]], [[Henry George]], [[Knut Wicksell]], [[Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk]], [[Carl Menger]], [[Georg Friedrich Knapp]], [[John Law (economist)|John Law]].
He also started publishing a magazine, ''The Money and Land Reform'' ({{langx|de|Die Geld- und Bodenreform}}) in 1900, but it was not a great success. He discontinued it in 1903 for financial reasons.

From 1907 to 1911, Gesell lived in Argentina again. He then returned to Germany where he chose to live in the [[vegetarian]]-oriented fruit-growing [[cooperative]] called [[Eden]] (Heaven) ({{langx|de|Obstbaugenossenschaft Eden}}), which was founded by [[Franz Oppenheimer]] in [[Oranienburg]], north of Berlin.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} There, he founded his magazine ''Der Physiokrat'' together with {{ill|lt=Georg Blumenthal|Georg Blumenthal (Schriftsteller)|de}}. In March 1916, further publication was prohibited due to [[wartime censorship]] during the [[World War I]].<ref name="onken-2000"/>
Gesell left Germany and returned back to his farm in Switzerland. Through his business, he acquired certain assets, with which he was able to dispatch so that crises did not damage him to a large extent. He also received support from his friends, especially from Paul Klemm in [[Transylvania]], [[Romania]], a wealthy [[wood]] manufacturer who occasionally paid the printing costs for Gesell's most sold publications.

[[File:Postkartengruss Gesell.png|thumb|Postcard from Silvio Gesell around 1920. He writes, among other things: "The big house was built by my great-grandfather [...],"{{efn|name=postcard-text|When translated to English, the entire handwritten postcard text reads: "The big house was built by my great-grandfather [arrow]. I met many old acquaintances here. Although I haven't been there for 30 years, some stopped me on the streets. <u>I know you, rascal.</u> They were all genuinely happy to see the lost Catholic sheep again."}} referring to the St. Vith master builder Josef Lentz.]]

[[File:Silvio Gesell  Grab 2023-3-17.jpg|thumb|Silvio Gesell's grave in the [[Oranienburg]] City Cemetery on 17 March 2023 (coordinates: {{coord|52.7478|13.2265|region:DE_type:landmark|name=Grabstätte von Silvio Gesell}})]]
[[File:Silvio Gesell  Grab Infotafel 2023-3-17.jpg|thumb|Information board at the grave (March 17, 2023)]]

In April 1919, Gesell received a call from [[Ernst Niekisch]] from the revolutionary government of [[Bavarian Soviet Republic]] to come to [[Munich]]. This offered him a seat in the so-called [https://www.bavarikon.de/object/bav:BSB-CMS-0000000000003991?lang=en Socialization Commission] and he was appointed shortly, on suggestion of [[Erich Müchsam]] and [[Gustav Landauer]], as the "People's Representative for Finance" ({{langx|de|Volksbeauftragte für Finanzen}}) situated in Munich. Gesell worked with law Professor {{ill|Karl Polenske|de}} from the [[University of Greifswald]] and the Swiss physician and mathematician [[Theophil Friedrich Christen]]. He wrote a law for the creation of [[Freiwirtschaft|Freigeld]] (Free Money), a currency system he had developed. However, his term lasted for only seven days.

After the violent end of Soviet Republic, Gesell was arrested. There he shared a cell with the poet [[Gustav Gräser]], whose writing on revolution he funded. After several months in prison, he was acquitted on July 1919 in a [[high treason]] trial for his self-defense speech in front of a Munich [[court martial]].<ref name="onken-2000"/> He claimed that he didn't have anything to do with the political decisions of the Republic and was just trying to offer a plan to restructure the economy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ilgmann |first1=Cordelius |title=Silvio Gesell: 'a strange, unduly neglected' monetary theorist |journal=Centrum für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung |date=April 2011 |volume=38 |issue=23 |pages=532–564 |url=https://www.econstor.eu/handle/10419/51275 |jstor=48540611|doi=10.1080/01603477.2015.1099446|hdl=10419/51275 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> The legal costs of the process were paid by the state treasury. However, he, Gräser, and others was deported from [[Bavaria]]. Immediately after his discharge, Gesell and his supporters resumed their activism for his revolutionary ideas

Due to of his participation with the Munich Soviet Republic, the Swiss authorities refused to let him return to his farm, as an "undesirable foreigner". Gesell subsequently retired to {{ill|Bergholz-Rehbrücke|de}}, [[Potsdam-Mittelmark]], then back to Oranienburg-Eden once again. In 1924, another stay in Argentina followed. In 1927, he lived in Eden again until he died from [[pneumonia]] on 11 March 1930. He was buried in a [[cemetery]] in Oranienburg. {{ill|Bertha Heimberg|de}} delivered his funeral speech. Silvio Gesell was married to Anna (born Böttger), with whom he had four children. From his relationship with Jenny Bumenthal (born Führer), his son Hans-Joachim Führer was born in 1915. Gesell had further relationships and children with Wanda Tomys and Grete Siermann.

==Economic philosophy==
In his book ''[[The Natural Economic Order]] through Free Land and Free Money'' ({{langx|de|Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld}}), which was self-published, Gesell stated his theories.
Gesell based his economical ideas on the [[self-interest]] of people, as a healthy and natural inducement which allows them to provide for their necessities and become economically active.
He called for free, fair business competition, with equal chances for all.
This included the removal of all [[legal]] and inherited [[Privilege (legal ethics)|privilege]]s.
Gesell believed that an economic system must do justice to individual proclivities.
Such circumstances should establish an economical order for itself, otherwise it is set up for failure.
For that reason, Gesell referred to his economical model as "natural".
With such a statement, he consciously held himself in contradiction to [[Karl Marx]], who demanded a change in [[social relation]]s.
{{Blockquote |text="Once again is the marxistic goal to be achieved by force, on the road of law. The nature of people is directed against this goal, arguing it." |author=Silvio Gesell |source=second [[memorandum]] for german [[trade unions]] for implementation of their activities against [[capitalism]], 1922}}

Under Freiwirtschaft, the most talented people would have the greatest income, without distortion by [[interest]] and [[rent-seeking]].
The economic status of the less-talented would improve because they would not be forced to pay interest and rent charges.
According to Gesell, this would reduce inequality between the [[poor]] and the rich.
Furthermore, greater [[per capita income]]s would mean that the poor would have a greater chance of escaping poverty, in part because poor people would have greater disposable income and spending power.

Silvio Gesell advocated a [[International order|world order]] and considered himself a [[world citizen]].
According to his belief system, inspired by [[Henry George]], the [[Earth]] should belong to all people equally, with no difference in [[Race (human categorization)|race]], [[sex]], status, [[asset]]s, [[religion]], [[Ageing|age]], or [[From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs|ability to provide]].
However, his land reform proposal was different from [[Georgism]].
He believed that [[land value tax]]es could not solve the problem of land rent,<ref name="NEO-part-1-intro"/> as he believed that the taxes could be passed onto the tenants.<ref name="NEO-part-1-chap-11"/>
He believed that the private ownership of land should be abolished and replaced by free-land reform, a sort of public lease of land.<ref name="NEO-part-2-chap-3">{{Cite web |last=Gesell |first=Silvio |title=Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld |trans-title=The Natural Economic Order/Part II/Chapter 3: Free-Land In Practice |date=1916 |location=Bern, Switzerland |translator-last=Pye |translator-first=Philip |via=The Anarchist Library |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317140424/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc25 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |access-date=30 April 2025 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781610330442}}</ref>
He proposed that public ownership of land should be accomplished by making the government [[Eminent domain|purchase all land from current landowners]] through a massive amount of government [[land bonds]], which would be paid over in 20 years by [[leasing]] the land through a system of competitive bidding for leases.<ref name="baynham-2023"/>
This would achieve many of the intended effects of Georgism, but two of the main differences are that it would compensate previous landowners through bond payments and it would not be necessary to repeatedly [[Real estate appraisal|re-appraise]] the value of land.<ref name="sidman-lecture-7"/>
Landowners would no longer own their land, but they would be compensated through the bond payments and could obtain private [[Possession (law)|possession]] of their land if they pay the leases.<ref name="sidman-lecture-7"/>

According to Silvio Gesell, establishing [[welfare state]]s without abolishing [[private ownership]] of land would be ineffective, because the proceeds of the worker's labor would be determined by the proceeds of labor that they obtain on the lands of the [[landowner]]s, rather than free-land.<ref name="NEO-part-1-chap-13">{{Cite web |last=Gesell |first=Silvio |title=Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld |trans-title=The Natural Economic Order/Part I/Chapter 13: The Entire Wage-Scale Up To The Highest Salaries Is Based On The Labour-Proceeds Of Cultivators Of Freeland |date=1916 |location=Bern, Switzerland |translator-last=Pye |translator-first=Philip |via=The Anarchist Library |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317140424/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc17 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |access-date=30 April 2025 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781610330442}}</ref>
Private ownership of land converts all the advantages of using one's land into [[cash]] and thus belongs to the landowner.<ref name="NEO-part-2-chap-4">{{Cite web |last=Gesell |first=Silvio |title=Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld |trans-title=The Natural Economic Order/Part II/Chapter 4: Effects Of Nationalisation Of The Land |date=1916 |location=Bern, Switzerland |translator-last=Pye |translator-first=Philip |via=The Anarchist Library |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317140424/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc26 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |access-date=30 April 2025 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781610330442}}</ref>
In order to not cancel the effects of welfare [[policies]], Silvio Gesell believed that Free-Land reform was necessary.

Some regard Gesell's idea of Freigeld as a [[negative interest rate]] policy, but they have different effects.
Under the Freigeld reforms of Gesell, hoarding money becomes impossible because the face-value of money depreciates regularly.
This forces the circulation of money.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bershidsky|first1=Leonid|title='Neglected Prophet' of Economics Got It Right| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2015-07-03/-neglected-prophet-of-economics-got-it-right|newspaper=Bloomberg|date=3 July 2015 |access-date=1 June 2017}}</ref>
By contrast, it is possible to hoard money on negative interests, since the face-value of money is constant and people can use their money as a means of [[saving]].
For example, Japan's negative interest rates drove up the sales of [[safe]]s and strongboxes.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shen|first1=Lucinda|title=Japan's Negative Interest Rates Are Driving up Sales of Safes|url=http://fortune.com/2016/02/23/japans-negative-interest-rate-driving-up-safe-sales/|access-date=1 June 2017|work=Fortune|date=2016-02-23}}</ref>

Gesell denied [[Value (economics)|value theory in economics]].
He thought that value theory is useless and prevents economics from becoming science, and that a currency administration guided by value theory was doomed to sterility and inactivity.<ref name="NEO-part-3-chap-3">{{Cite web |last=Gesell |first=Silvio |title=Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld |trans-title=The Natural Economic Order/Part III/Chapter 3:So-Called "Value" |date=1916 |location=Bern, Switzerland |translator-last=Pye |translator-first=Philip |via=The Anarchist Library |url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc33 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250317140424/https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/silvio-gesell-the-natural-economic-order#toc33 |archive-date=17 March 2025 |access-date=30 April 2025 |df=dmy-all |isbn=9781610330442}}</ref>

==Reception==
===Early free-economy organizations===
In 1909, Georg Blumenthal established with the [[Physiocracy|Association for Physiocratic Politics]] ({{langx|de|Verein für Physiokratische Politik}}) the first platform for the expansion of Silvio Gesell's teachings. In the following future, a publishing house and a magazine were established in 1913. Inside the movement, one placed in Gang by Bumenthal, contradictory opinions immediately appeared, that led to founding of new organisations. In this respect, there is the Free-Land - Free-Money - Contract ({{langx|de|Freiland-Freigeld-Bund}}), founded by {{ill|Paulus Klüpfel|de}}, and Contract for Free-economy ({{langx|de|Bund für Freiwirtschaft}}), founded by Helmut Haacke.

According to Günter Bartsch, in the early stages of free-economic organizations, there were "Two Political Techings" battling one another, the [[Anarcho-liberalism]] and [[State Socialism (Germany)|State-socialism]]. Swiss life reformer {{ill|Werner Zimmermann (activist)|lt=Werner Zimmermann|de|Werner Zimmermann}} found, more successful or not, a synthesis, which he called [[Free socialism]].

===From the Soviet Republic in 1919 until Gesell's death===
====Erich Müchsam and Gustav Landauer====
Among other things, the fact that Gesell got appointed as the finance minister of the Munich Soviet Republic was based on a joint proposal by [[Gustav Landauer]] and [[Erich Mühsam|Erich Müchsam]].
In his Personal Account Report on the Revolutionary Events in Munich ({{langx|de|Persönliches Rechenschaftsbericht über die Revolutionsereignise in München}}), the latter wrote that Silvio Gesell had the most "comprehensive knowledge in the field of money", and his "recognizable anarchist attitude" were known to them.

In addition, "the practice of his free-money theory accompanied with nationalization of banks" appeared to them as a particularly effective means of "making exploitation and usury impossible fast".
Shortly after Gesell's death, Müchsam stated in his funeral oration: "The time of revolutionary realization will have much to give to the dead. The road of mankind toward proper unity will be stamped with the kind of ground as from Silvio Gesell's garden."
Landauer was impressed very early on by Gesell's free-money theory.
He saw in him a disciple of [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]].
In his ''Call to Socialism'' ({{langx|de|Aufruf für Sozialismus}}) published in 1911, he wrote: "In a free-transactional economy, money must become equal to all other commodities from which it differs in essence today, and yet become a general means of exchange. Very valuable are the proposals that Silvio Gesell has made. [...] He is one of the very few, who have learned from Proudhon, recognized his greatness and, following him, have come to continue thinking independently."

====Silvio Gesell and Gottfried Feder====
The historian {{ill|Udo Kissenkoetter|de}} made references in 1920s to activities of the [[antisemitic]] [[German Socialist Party]] (DSP), in which [[Gottfried Feder]] was included as much as Silvio Gesell was, as the main speakers and competitors.
Supporters of Gesell and Feder inside the DSP ranked with many [[seats of local government]] for a economic program, as was in the second congress in August 1920 in [[Leipzig]].
In this course, in the "early-[[fascist]]ic circles", Gesell's plans for governing of the conjuncture, and Feder's model of national money creation were seen as a mental common good.
In August 1921, a multinational [[NSDAP]]-congress in [[Linz]] finally decided that Gottfired Feder's economical views would be adopted against Silvio Gesell's teachings.

==Works==
* Gesell, Silvio. [https://www.silvio-gesell.de/the-natural-economic-order.html ''The Natural Economic Order''] Revised edition. London: Peter Owen, 1958.

=== In German ===
* ''Die Reformation des Münzwesens als Brücke zum sozialen Staat.'' Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1891
* ''Die Verstaatlichung des Geldes.'' Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1892
* ''Die Anpassung des Geldes und seiner Verwaltung an die Bedürfnisse des modernen Verkehrs.'' Herpig & Stieveken, Buenos Aires 1897
* ''Die argentinische Geldwirtschaft und ihre Lehren.'' 1900
* ''Das Monopol der schweizerischen Nationalbank und die Grenzen der Geldausgabe im Falle einer Sperrung der freien Goldausprägung.'' K. J. Wyss, Bern 1901
* ''Die Verwirklichung des Rechts auf den vollen Arbeitsertrag durch die Geld- und Bodenreform.'' Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys/Leipzig 1906
* ''Die neue Lehre von Geld und Zins.'' Physiokratischer Verlag, Berlin/Leipzig 1911
* ''Die natürliche Wirtschaftsordnung durch Freiland und Freigeld.'' Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys 1916; [http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/gesell/nwo/ 9. Auflage herausgegeben von Karl Walker]: [[Rudolf Zitzmann]] Verlag, Lauf 1949 ([http://www.florian-seiffert.de/doc/my_nwo.pdf PDF; 1,4 MB])
* ''Gold oder Frieden? Vortrag, gehalten in Bern am 28. April 1916.'' Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys 1916
* ''Freiland, die eherne Forderung des Friedens. Vortrag, gehalten im Weltfriedensbund in Zürich am 5. Juli 1917 in Zürich.'' Selbstverlag, Les Hauts Geneveys 1917
* ''Der Abbau des Staates nach Einführung der Volksherrschaft. Denkschrift an die zu Weimar versammelten Nationalräte.'' Verlag des Freiland-Freigeld-Bundes, Berlin-Steglitz 1919
* ''Die gesetzliche Sicherung der Kaufkraft des Geldes durch die absolute Währung. Denkschrift zu einer Eingabe an die Nationalversammlung.'' Selbstverlag, Berlin/Weimar 1919
* ''Das Reichswährungsamt. Wirtschaftliche, politische und finanzielle Vorbereitung für seine Einrichtung.'' Freiland-Freigeldverlag, Rehbrücke 1920
* ''Internationale Valuta-Assoziation (IVA). Voraussetzung des Weltfreihandels – der einzigen für das zerrissene Deutschland in Frage kommenden Wirtschaftspolitik.'' Freiwirtschaftlicher Verlag, Sontra 1920
* ''Die Freiwirtschaft vor Gericht.'' Mit einer Einleitung von Richard Hoffmann. Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Erfurt/Bern 1920
* ''An das deutsche Volk! Kundgebung des Freiwirtschaftlichen Kongresses zu Hannover.'' Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Erfurt 1921
* ''Deutsche Vorschläge für die Neugründung des Völkerbundes und die Überprüfung des Versailler Vertrages. Öffentlicher Vortrag, gehalten in der Aula des Gymnasiums zu Barmen am 20. Dezember 1920.'' Verlag des Freiland-Freigeld-Bundes, Barmen-Elberfeld 1921
* ''Die Wissenschaft und die Freiland-Freigeldlehre. Kritik und Erwiderung.'' Ohne Verfasserangabe erschienen. Erfurt/Berlin 1921
* ''Denkschrift für die Gewerkschaften zum Gebrauch bei ihren Aktionen in der Frage der Währung, der Valuta und der Reparationen.'' Selbstverlag, Berlin-Rehbrücke 1922
* ''Die Ausbeutung, ihre Ursachen und ihre Bekämpfung. Zweite Denkschrift für die deutschen Gewerkschaften zum Gebrauch bei ihren Aktionen gegen den Kapitalismus. Vortrag, gehalten in der Sozialistischen Vereinigung zur gegenseitigen Weiterbildung in Dresden am 8. Mai 1922.'' Selbstverlag, Berlin-Rehbrücke 1922
* ''Die Diktatur in Not. Sammelruf für die Staatsmänner Deutschlands.'' Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Erfurt 1922
* ''Das Trugbild der Auslandsanleihe und ein neuer Vorschlag zum Reparationsproblem. Eine weltwirtschaftliche Betrachtung, eine Warnung vor Illusionen und ein positiver Lösungsvorschlag.'' Freiwirtschaftlicher Verlag, Erfurt 1922
* unter dem Pseudonym Juan Acratillo: ''[http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/fragen-der-freiheit/heft129/barataria.htm Der verblüffte Sozialdemokrat].'' 1922 ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120130183557/http://www.geokey.de/literatur/doc/Die_Wunderinsel_Barataria_-_Gesell_Silvio.pdf PDF])
* ''Der Aufstieg des Abendlandes. Vorlesung, gehalten zu Pfingsten 1923 in Basel auf dem 1. Internationalen Freiland-Freigeld-Kongress.'' Freiland-Freigeld-Verlag, Berlin/ Bern, 1923.
* mit Hans Bernoulli und Fritz Roth: ''Das Problem der Grundrente. Einleitende Gedanken zu einer wissenschaftlichen Abklärung.'' Selbstverlag des Schweizer Freiwirtschaftsbundes, Bern 1925
* ''Die allgemeine Enteignung im Lichte physiokratischer Ziele.'' Selbstverlag, Potsdam 1926
* ''Der abgebaute Staat. Leben und Treiben in einem gesetz- und sittenlosen hochstrebenden Kulturvolk.'' A. Burmeister Verlag, Berlin-Friedenau 1927
* ''Reichtum und Armut gehören nicht in einen geordneten Staat.'' Werkauswahl zum 150. Geburtstag, zusammengestellt von Werner Onken. Verlag für Sozialökonomie, Kiel 2011, {{ISBN|978-3-87998-462-6}}

=== In Spanish ===
* ''Nervus rerum.'' Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1891
* ''El Sistema Monetario Argentino. Sus Ventajas y su Perfeccionamento.'' Selbstverlag, Buenos Aires 1893
* ''La Cuestion Monetaria Argentina.'' Buenos Aires 1898

== See also ==
* [[Bernard Lietaer]]
* [[Margrit Kennedy]]
* [[Thomas H. Greco Jr.]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* {{wikiquote lang|de}}
* Full text of [https://web.archive.org/web/20060909111523/http://www.utopie.it/pubblicazioni/gesell.htm ''The Natural Economic Order'']
* [http://www.utopie.it/pubblicazioni/gesell/appendix.htm List of Writings by Silvio Gesell]
* [http://www.geldreform.de/ Money reform] A collection of online text related to monetary reform and interest-free money, in several languages.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100113195215/http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~roehrigw/keynes/engl.htm John Maynard Keynes ''General Theory of Employment, Money and Interest'' mention of Silvio Gesell]
* [https://silviogesell.com/ Silvio Gesell Foundation]

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