Monetary Constitution Seminar

This seminar will introduce students to the history and law of the financial infrastructure of our nation’s government. Key topics covered will include the national debt, the budget process, taxation, central banking, and economic growth. While only portions of these issues are explicitly addressed in the text of the Constitution, all are of a Constitutional character, for their resolution requires institutions that are stable yet flexible over time. Readings will relate to current fiscal issues and also include some of the most important state papers in the history of the United States, such as the opinions of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton on the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States (1791) and Andrew Jackson’s Veto Message Regarding the Bank of the United States (1832). We will also read and analyze landmark Supreme Court opinions such as McCulloch v. Maryland (1819, upholding the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States), the Gold Clause Cases (1935, holding unconstitutional Congressional abrogation of the gold clauses in US debt instruments) and NFIB v. Sebelius (2012, upholding the Constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act). Current topics include recent controversies over the debt ceiling and the appropriate role of Congress in controlling the nation's fiscal affairs. In addition to reading the specially prepared materials and discussing these important issues in the seminar, students are asked to prepare papers on a topic or topics of their choice relating to the subjects covered in the materials. The objective of the seminar is to prepare its members to participate in a constructive manner in the important debates on these issues sure to unfold in the coming years, as well as to provide sophisticated advice to clients on the risks and opportunities that exist in the contemporary US economy.