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 Rise and Fall of the City
This essay is based on a chapter of Democracy: The God That Failed.
The Rise and Fall of the City
This essay is based on a chapter of Democracy: The God That Failed.
The Celebrated Adam Smith
Originally published as chapter 16 in An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Vol. I
The Celebrated Adam Smith
Originally published as chapter 16 in An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought, Vol. I
Dangers of the one-good model: Böhm-Bawerk’s critique of the “naïve productivity theory of interest”
Only in a model with multiple goods can one fully appreciate the "Austrian" approach to capital and interest theory.
Dangers of the one-good model: Böhm-Bawerk’s critique of the “naïve productivity theory of interest”
Only in a model with multiple goods can one fully appreciate the "Austrian" approach to capital and interest theory.
The Puritans “Purify”: Theocracy in Massachusetts
Conceived in Liberty, Volume 1 (Mises Institute, 1999 [1975], pp. 174-181.
The Puritans “Purify”: Theocracy in Massachusetts
Conceived in Liberty, Volume 1 (Mises Institute, 1999 [1975], pp. 174-181.
The Role of Saving in the Process of Income Formation
Abstract: The present paper attempts to explain some very serious fallacies contained in the idea of “circular flow of macroeconom
The Role of Saving in the Process of Income Formation
Abstract: The present paper attempts to explain some very serious fallacies contained in the idea of “circular flow of macroeconom
The End or the Beginning of History
How can free market capitalism--the secret of Western success for 250 years--gain public insight of its inherent voluntary democracy and so w
The End or the Beginning of History
How can free market capitalism--the secret of Western success for 250 years--gain public insight of its inherent voluntary democracy and so w
Foundations in Economic Methodologies: The Use of Mathematics by Mainstream Economics and its Methodology by Austrian Economics
This paper describes how the content of the objects of reality is shaped or unpacked and used in very different ways by Mainstream and Austrian methodologies.
Foundations in Economic Methodologies: The Use of Mathematics by Mainstream Economics and its Methodology by Austrian Economics
This paper describes how the content of the objects of reality is shaped or unpacked and used in very different ways by Mainstream and Austrian methodologies.
The Transformation of the American Right
The Transformation of the American Right
A Critique of Neoclassical and Austrian Monopoly Theory
One of the most controversial areas in Austrian economics, and one where even long-established Austrian theorists differ sharply, is monopoly theory.
The Historical vs. the Deductive Method in Political Economy
The offering which the most prominent leader of the younger generation of the historical school has made to the founder and head of that school, Wi
The Non Sequitur of the Dependence Effect
From the Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 27, April 1961.
An Economic Review of the Patent System
Study commission by the Subcommitttee on Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights of the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S.
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.
