AMERICAN MONETARY INSTITUTE
PO. Box 601, Valatie, NY, 12184
ami@taconic.net
A foundation dedicated to the study of monetary history, theory and reform.
Robert de Fremery
Lifetime Achievement Award
August 24, 1998
The American Monetary Institute is pleased to honor the work of Mr. Robert de Fremery with this special AMI Lifetime Achievement Award for focusing attention on the importance of 100% reserve banking, and the related need for single land tax reform.
De Fremery's lifelong concern has been how the rights of all Americans have been sacrificed in the name of awarding two special privileges to a tiny minority. These two privileges are the specially favorable tax treatment of landholders, and the monetary powers of bankers.
For over 5 decades, Robert de Fremery has been a consistent force for monetary reform in America. Though not generally known to the public, his persistent correspondence with Federal Reserve officials and with nationally known economists has had a lasting influence upon some of them, one of whom went on to win the Nobel prize in economics.
While the "100% Reserve Solution" was developed by Henry C. Simons of the University of Chicago in the early 1930's, based on the work of Nobel laureate chemist Frederick Soddy, it has been Robert de Fremery's consistent attention to the necessity of 100% reserve banking that has kept the concept alive until today. This work, and his stressing the need to increase the money supply in proportion to population growth, have appeared over the years in a prestigious financial journal, the Commercial and Financial Chronicle of New York, as well as in his 1955 book MONEY AND FREEDOM.
In his 1992 book RIGHTS VS. PRIVILEGES (see our review on the AMI home page) de Fremery presents An analysis of these two powerful privileged interests that have deprived us of fundamental rights. "Our rights are interdependent. They stand or fall together" he writes.
Brief Biography:
Born on August 24, 1916 in Oakland California, Robert de Fremery grew up in Berkeley and entered the University of California in 1934 at the peak of the Great Depression. But he dropped out in 1936 after being told in an economics class: "We don't know what caused the depression."
De Fremery pursued private research for two years to satisfy himself as to the cause of the depression. He studied religon, philosophy and economics, emphasizing the history and theory of money and banking.
De Fremery then worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for a year, before being drafted into the Army, attending Officer Candidate School at Durham, North Carolina, and becoming Finance Officer of the 446th Bomb Group of the 8th Air Force. He married his wife, Susan, in 1943 and then served in England until the end of World War II, leaving the army as a Major.
Returning to San Francisco, de Fremery worked another year at the Federal Reserve Bank, but decided that as a serious critic of the banking system, he should resign. He went to work for Onox Inc. in San Francisco and rose to the Presidency of Onox. He retired in 1969 to continue his research and writing.
Robert de Fremery and his wife Susan have four children, nine grandchildren and eight great- grandchildren.
Some of de fremery's other accomplishments:
*Served on the Money and Credit Committee of the National Association of Manufacturers, from 1955, until the committee was discontinued.
*Wrote numerous articles analyzing and condemning fractional reserve banking which appeared in the Commercial and Financial Chronicle from 1955 to 1974.
*Taught a course in "The Fundamentals of Money" for the Henry George School of Social Science in northern California, using his first book as a text.
De Fremery's association with that school and its founder/Director Robert Tideman, led to his understanding of the importance of the Henry George system of single land tax reform, which he incorporated into his second book RIGHTS VS PRIVILEGES.
Robert de Fremery's gift of a substantial number of copies of this book constituted the initial founding donation of the American Monetary Institute Charitable Trust. Despite his advancing years, de Fremery remains mentally as sharp as a needle. Throughout his career, and continuing to this day, he has placed the effort to establish a just monetary and banking system, above considerations of his own personal comfort. He has always been available to help, and to give us the valuable benefit of his extensive experience in the 20th century monetary wars. Thank you Bob, for everything.
