Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics

Volume 10, No. 2 (Summer 2007)

Between 1830 and 1903, Sweden experienced one of the longest and most successful free-banking periods in history. During this period, private note issuing banks were allowed and prospered. This paper describes the rise and fall of the Swedish free banking system and shows that the system could be considered a true free banking system, in spite of legal restrictions. Finally, the paper provides a comprehensive summary of the critique raised against the Swedish free banking system.