Most interpretations of American free banking experiences in the nineteenth century focus on the failure of what is commonly believed to have been an experiment in unregulated banking. In this dissertation completed in 1988, economist Karen Y. Palasek advances the thesis that not only was free banking a strictly regulated system, but the reasons for its failure stem directly from the regulations themselves and from the regulatory ties between bond collateral requirements for competitively issued redeemable banknotes and a large volume of government debt which was essentially used as a reserve by free banks.
To illustrate the impediments presented by free banking laws, Palasek compares free banking experiences in New York to bank experiences in New England under the Suffolk System. She argues that the New England regional banking system that developed under the Suffolk was essentially a laissez-faire banking system, producing stability and safety for noteholders and depositors through market-driven behavioral constraints on the banks. New York, arguably the best example of American free banking, compares unfavorably on both stability and safety to the more laissez-faire system. The implications of this reexamination of free banking and the recent debates over the causes of instability in the free banking era have a bearing on modern reconsideration of deregulation and the self-regulating properties of a laissez-faire monetary system in the areas of stability, safety, and adequacy of banking facilities.
The American Empire
The Roman Empire never doubted that it was the defender of civilization. Americans have added freedom and democracy. Yet the more that may be added to it the more it is the same language still. A language of power.
The Myth of Democratic Socialism
Rothbard illustrates that both in theory and in practice, socialism is a system unsurpassed in brutality, despotism, mass murder and exploitation. Socialism deserves no solemn respect or moral salute.
Murray N. Rothbard: A Legacy of Liberty
While upholding the radical ideal, Rothbard happily cooperated with anyone who wanted to limit government power, no matter how gradually. The perfect was never the enemy of the good in his mind; the good was always an improvement. He combined idealism with realism, scholarship with accessibility, and boundless curiosity with commitment to truth.
Murray N. Rothbard: A Legacy of Liberty
While upholding the radical ideal, Rothbard happily cooperated with anyone who wanted to limit government power, no matter how gradually. The perfect was never the enemy of the good in his mind; the good was always an improvement. He combined idealism with realism, scholarship with accessibility, and boundless curiosity with commitment to truth.
Entrepreneurial Profit and Loss
The following reading is a selection from Human Action, Chapter XV, “The Market,” by Ludwig von Mises.
Entrepreneurial Profit and Loss
The following reading is a selection from Human Action, Chapter XV, “The Market,” by Ludwig von Mises.
Entrepreneurial Profit and Loss
The following reading is a selection from Human Action, Chapter XV, “The Market,” by Ludwig von Mises.
Carl Menger: The Founding of the Austrian School
Despite the many illustrious forerunners in its six-hundred-year prehistory, Carl Menger was the true and sole founder of the Austrian School of ec
The Laws Governing Goods-Character
The following reading is selected from Principles of Economics, chapter I, “The General Theory of the Good,” by Carl Menger.
The Market and Market Prices
The starting point for the development of all economic theory is “human action is purposeful behavior.”
Economic Calculation from Mises’s Socialism
In the following reading from Socialism, Mises explains how money prices are critical for an economy to be an economy, i.e., a system in which production and consumption are economized. Mises concludes, “Socialism is the renunciation of rational economy.”
Money in a Free Society
The following reading is chapter 2 of What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray Rothbard.
The Subjective Theory of Value
The starting point for the development of all economic theory is “human action is purposeful behavior.” The following reading is chapter 4 from An Introduction to Austrian Economics by Thomas C. Taylor.
Loan Banking
Busting monetary myths was easy once we grasped the fundamentals, like the origin of money, the value of money, the optimal supply of money, etc. Rothbard does the same in this reading from The Case Against the Fed.
Carl Menger: The Founding of the Austrian School
Despite the many illustrious forerunners in its six-hundred-year prehistory, Carl Menger was the true and sole founder of the Austrian School of ec
The Causal Connections Between Goods
The following reading is selected from Principles of Economics, chapter I, “The General Theory of the Good,” by Carl Menger.
The Market and Market Prices
The starting point for the development of all economic theory is “human action is purposeful behavior.”
Enter the Central Bank
Busting monetary myths was easy once we grasped the fundamentals, like the origin of money, the value of money, the optimal supply of money, etc. Rothbard does the same in this reading from The Case Against the Fed.
Money in a Free Society
The following reading is chapter 2 of What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray Rothbard.
The Rate of Interest
The following reading is a selection from Human Action, Chapter XIX, “The Rate of Interest,” by Ludwig von Mises.
Dr. Palasek is Assistant Professor of Business at Barton College, and serves as the Director of Educational and Academic Programs at the John Locke Foundation.
The amazing fact is that the great majority of British people are not yet consciously aware that they are living in a very severe economic crisis.
