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The purpose of this paper is to examine the nexus between interest rate changes and commodity spot prices.

The cost‐of‐carry model of simultaneous equilibrium in commodity spot and futures prices is employed to gauge the effects induced by interest rate changes. Results depend crucially on the type of expectations that prevail for the commodity market in question.

Under mean‐reverting expectations, an increase (decrease) in the interest rate will cause the spot price to drop (increase) and commodity suppliers to dishoard (hoard) inventories. Under invariant expectations, the change in the interest rate induces no change in the spot price and no hoarding/dishoarding behavior among commodity suppliers. Under momentum expectations, an increase (decrease) in the interest rate will cause the spot price to increase (drop) and suppliers to hoard (dishoard) inventories.

The effects of monetary policy actions on commodity spot prices can be gauged employing the simple model developed here.

A novel application of the cost‐of‐carry model is presented.

The purpose of the paper was to explore the issue of hoarding and dishoarding in a modern context, especially as it relates to circulation of wealth, an important economic objective from the Islamic viewpoint.

This paper presents a survey of scholarly positions on the issue of hoarding and circulation of wealth from Islamic perspectives and analyzes how these positions affect the shaping of financial and economic dimensions of life in our contemporary time. The paper draws on the primary sources, the Qur'an and hadith, and examines the positions of the classical and contemporary scholars, especially in the context of the growing interest in finance, the financial system and economy from the Islamic perspective.

The paper identifies the fact that the notion of hoarding (kanz) needs significantly revised understanding, as money as a concept and tool has evolved substantively in modern times. It also examines variant positions regarding the concept of hoarding and finds more merit in favor of the position that paying zakat is not enough to be exempted from the Qur'anic implications about hoarding. It also identifies and examines securitization, such as sukuk, as an important tool for better circulation of wealth.

Hoarding and dishoarding are not widely explored topics in contemporary literature on Islamic economics and finance. This paper makes a valuable contribution in its attempt to highlight the problem of hoarding and the challenge toward greater circulation of wealth.

In many societies, conflicts of violent nature regularly spring up that usually cause a destruction of economic and social assets and needless loss of human lives. Violent conflicts and food entitlements seem to bear mutual feedbacks: first and foremost, as violent conflicts result in destruction of economic assets, conflicts usually tell upon the cultivation of foods, procurement and storage of foods and also the distribution and marketing of foods. The disruption in the agrarian sector can lead to serious decline in food availability and consequent famines, which can exacerbate and fuel further conflicts. On the other hand, the distribution and availability of foods can trigger violent conflicts in backward societies as a means to acquire and retain food entitlements, which can in turn jeopardise the agrarian equilibrium. Thus, the relationship between food entitlements and conflicts are a double-edged sword that can lend precarious instability to a backward society. During the last five decades, governments in developing nations have kept a close vigil on their agrarian sector, yet there is a clear indication in the global economy that warns of a looming food crisis, especially in the poorer regions of our globe. Food crises can seriously challenge global peace. Conflicts and hunger are hence complex phenomena. This chapter provides a comprehensive, and possibly the first, study of the economics of food entitlements and potential threats of conflicts in the current conjuncture.

The revival of the quantity theory of money which was advanced by M. Friedman and the Chicago School in the 1960s led me to an investigation of the contributions of Greek economists during the twentieth century, to this indisputably long‐lived theory.

In “Why the Austrians Are Wrong About Depressions,” Professor Tullock (1987, p. 73) makes some statements that are incorrect and others which, properly interpreted, refute or at least, fail egregiously to support, his thesis that the Austrian theory of the trade cycle is incorrect. We begin by considering one of Tullock's minor points in Section 2 and then consider his major point in Section 3. In Section 4 we take to task Tullock (1989), also on this same topic, and conclude in Section 5.

Our work provides a comprehensive examination of two major issues concerning the fragmentation of state and possible state failure, which will be one of the major deterrence for achieving peace in our world. There are two important sources of conflicts – one is for the rural society and the other is relevant for the urban society. In the rural set-up, we argue that the fragmentation of markets leads to clientelism between rich farmers and their subjugated clients, small farmers. We show this as an equilibrium phenomenon in which a handful of rich and powerful players, or farmers, can effectively control millions of small farmers, which can easily challenge the authority and the mandate and the jurisdiction of a nation state. This element of clientelisation can effectively fragment the state in a developing nation.

The US federal deficit has, over the years, remained a subject of widespread concern and controversy. Diverse views continue to be expressed on such questions as whether the deficit matters, whether it is the inflation‐adjusted deficit that matters, whether bond‐financed deficits are inflationary, and whether it is only deficits that are financed by money creation which are inflationary. Against this background, few would disagree with Boskin (1982) that “progress in improving our understanding of the role of the budget deficit in economic behavior and performance… is an urgent research priority”.

The final stage of the changeover to the euro consisted of the introduction of euro coins and banknotes on 1 January, 2002. The national changeover plans, that provided the scenarios, were based on the exclusive transaction function of money. However, in most European countries high‐denomination banknotes were significantly hoarded and/or used in the underground economy. Since the holders of these banknotes could not convert them anonymously in the two months changeover period, some feared that many banknotes would invade the payment system, leading to a cash‐crash. Nevertheless the changeover process evolved smoothly. As for the future, chances are that some users in the regular sector have permanently changed their payment habits by shifting towards electronic means of payment. In the longer run we believe, however, that the tolerant attitude of the authorities with respect to currency use in the underground sector, will sustain the demand for currency.