Stephen Zarlenga

Zarlenga argued that, in a world where "the nature of money is a fiat of the law, an invention or creation of mankind," even in times of the gold standard, the authority to "create money" should be the sole prerogative of a sovereign government. He supported the distinctions made by 19th century author Henry George between wealth and money, between money and credit, and between what George had called "privately-created credit, used in place of money and for private profit" and "government- or publicly- created money for the common good."

Zarlenga's views are supported by numerous people, including Post-Keynesians such as Australian Steve Keen and American Michael Hudson, and mainstream economists such as German former banker Michael Kumhof who found The Lost Science to be "a masterful work." The London-based organization Positive Money is promoting the views held by Zarlenga, while in June 2018, a referendum was held in Switzerland on a proposal to "eliminate bank-created money." The proposal was defeated "in a landslide" with approximately 76% of voters against it.

Stephen A. Zarlenga (1941 – 25 April 2017) was a researcher and author in the field of monetary theory, trader in stock and financial markets, and advocate of monetary reform.

Zarlenga actively supported monetary-reform legislation in the United States, appearing and giving testimony in government agencies, and in the House of Lords, UK. Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich from Ohio introduced in 2010 a bill for the National Employment Emergency Defense Act, the text of which was based on an text earlier developed by Zarlenga, the so-called "American Monetary Act." The bill was eventually not introduced to the floor, since there were no other co-sponsors and no companion legislation in the Senate.

In 2010, and again in 2016, the Green Party, US adopted in its platform on the economy proposals in line with Zarlenga's ideas on the nationalization of the Fed, the elimination of fractional banking, the creation by the state of so-called "debt-free money" only, etc.

In 2004, Zarlenga organized AMI's first Monetary Reform Conference, which became an annual event.

He wrote numerous articles on the subject of monetary reform along these lines, and, in 2002, authored the book The Lost Science of Money, first published in German in 1999, as Der Mythos Vom Geld – Die Geschichte Der Macht (The Mythology Of Money – The Story Of Power), where he also criticized the European common-currency regime.

He worked in the fields of mutual fund investing, commodity trading, real estate, and insurance. In 1996, he founded the American Monetary Institute, established as a 4947(a)(1) trust, dedicated to the "independent study of monetary history, theory and reform." He authored numerous articles and books, and gave lectures, participated in conferences and gave testimony to government committees, on "monetary reform."

Zarlenga's parents Dino and Lisa emigrated from Italy during the Great Depression. He received a BA in psychology at the University of Chicago in 1963.