Thomas Edison was an advocate for monetary reform in the United States. He was ardently opposed to the gold standard, and debt-based money. Famously, he was quoted in the New York Times stating “Gold is a relic of Julius Ceasar, and interest <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interest> is an invention of Satan.”[70] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-query.nytimes.com-70>
In the same article, he expounded upon the absurdity of a monetary system in which the taxpayer of the United States, in need of a loan, be compelled to pay in return perhaps double the principal, or even greater sums, due to interest. His basic point was that if the Government can produce debt based money, it could equally as well produce money that was a credit to the taxpayer.[70] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-query.nytimes.com-70>
He thought at length about the subject of money over 1921 and 1922. In May 1922, he published a proposal, entitled “A Proposed Amendment to the Federal Reserve Banking System”.[71] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-71> In it, he detailed an explanation of a commodity backed currency, in which the Federal Reserve would issue interest-free currency to farmers, based on the value of commodities they produced. During a publicity tour that he took with friend and fellow inventor, Henry Ford <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford> , he spoke publicly about his desire for monetary reform. For insight, he corresponded with prominent academic and banking professionals. In the end, however, Edison’s proposals failed to find support, and were eventually abandoned.[72] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#cite_note-72>