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.
Biography of A.R.J. Turgot (1727-1781): Brief, Lucid, and Brilliant
ANNE ROBERT JACQUES TURGOT'S career in economics was brief but brilliant, and in every way remarkable. In the first place, he died rather young, and second, the time and energy he devoted to economics was comparatively little. He was a busy man of affairs, born in Paris to a distinguished Norman family which had long served as important royal officials. Turgot's father, Michael-Etienne, was a Councillor of the Parliament of Paris, a master of requests, and top administrator of the city of Paris. His mother was the intellectual and aristocratic Dame Magdelaine-Francoise Martineau.
Biography of Wilhelm Röpke (1899-1966): Humane Economist
“I champion an economic order ruled by free prices and markets...the only economic order compatible with human freedom.”
Biography of Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850): Between the French and Marginalist Revolutions
Claude Frederic Bastiat was a French economist, legislator, and writer who championed private property, free markets, and limited government. Perhaps the main underlying theme of Bastiat's writings was that the free market was inherently a source of "economic harmony" among individuals, as long as government was restricted to the function of protecting the lives, liberties, and property of citizens from theft or aggression. To Bastiat, governmental coercion was only legitimate if it served "to guarantee security of person, liberty, and property rights, to cause justice to reign over all."
Biography of Juan de Mariana: The Influence of the Spanish Scholastics (1536-1624)
The prehistory the Austrian School of economics can be found in the works of the Spanish scholastics written in the "Spanish Golden Century."
Biography of Gottfried Haberler (1901-1995)
Gottfried Haberler was one of the first economists to make a case for the productivity of free trade in terms of the modern subjective theory of value.
Biography of Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)
One of the most notable economists and social philosophers of the twentieth century, Ludwig von Mises, in the course of a long and highly productiv
Cheap Money, Gold, and the Federal Reserve Bank Policy
The present glut in the money markets, with excessively cheap money and its attendant evils and dangers to the credit structure of the country, is due to the concurrence of three main causes.
Cheap Money, Gold, and the Federal Reserve Bank Policy
The present glut in the money markets, with excessively cheap money and its attendant evils and dangers to the credit structure of the country, is due to the concurrence of three main causes.
Myth and Truth about Libertarianism
Murray N. Rothbard Myth and Truth about Libertarianism Adobe PDF Library 4.0
Myth and Truth about Libertarianism
Murray N. Rothbard Myth and Truth about Libertarianism Adobe PDF Library 4.0
Investment that Raises the Demand for Capital
From The Review of Economic Statistics, Volume 19, Number 4 (November 1937).
Reflections on the Pure Theory of Money of Mr. J.M. Keynes
From Economica, No. 33 (August 1931) and No. 35 (February 1932).
The Mythology of Capital
From The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 50, Number 2 (February 1936).
Reflections on the Pure Theory of Money of Mr. J.M. Keynes
From Economica, No. 33 (August 1931) and No. 35 (February 1932).
Investment that Raises the Demand for Capital
From The Review of Economic Statistics, Volume 19, Number 4 (November 1937).
The Mythology of Capital
From The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 50, Number 2 (February 1936).
Films on Liberty and the State
A list of some films of particular interest to Austrians and libertarians.
Films on Liberty and the State
A list of some films of particular interest to Austrians and libertarians.
Dr. Palasek is 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.
