Henry 'H.C' Cutting was a California entrepreneur, engineer, school official and amateur economist. Initially attaining a mining degree in Nevada and serving several years as superintendent of the state's schools, he moved in 1903 to San Francisco, where he launched a mining company. In 1904, Cutting developed the inner harbor of Richmond, California, into a major commercial venture. He was able to secure federal appropriations for the harbor in 1914. Cutting spent his last decades focused on questions of monetary economics. He advocated various reforms, including the end of the gold standard and regulation of financial institutions. His 1921 book, The Strangle-Hold received wide attention and the author Upton Sinclair referred to it as "the best book extant for an understanding of our ban