Delegate Bob Marshall’s latest legislative proposal, to establish a committee to study whether Virginia should “adopt an alternative currency” to the familiar greenbacks in your wallet, is the kind of argument usually reserved to academic quarters or libertarian all-nighters. But as this is a real bill to be set before the General Assembly, it deserves attention.

According to this Washington Post write-up, Marshall is seeking to create a competing currency that will help steer the government, and the Federal Reserve, away from its recent, destructive policies. In that piece, where reporter Roz Helderman says the idea might come off as a bit wacky, Marshall is quoted as saying “’The only people who would say that are people who don’t understand or reject the clear language of the Constitution, of the law and of court decisions…’”