Money and Banking

About this Collection

As modern economics began to emerge in the late 18th century money and banks quickly became the focus of much attention. Of particular interest were questions about the proper role of government in the issuing of coins, the regulation of interest rates, and other banking activities.

Key People

Titles & Essays

The Application of the Theoretical Apparatus of Supply and Demand to Units of Currency

Edwin Cannan (author)

A pioneering article on currency which was pubished in one of the leading professional economics journals in the early 20th century.

Capital and Interest: A Critical History of Economic Theory

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (author)

Ludwig von Mises described this as a “monumental work” which “is the most eminent contribution to economic theory”. He further stated that “a man not perfectly familiar with all the ideas advanced in theses three volumes has no claim…

A Collection of the Political Writings of William Leggett

William Leggett (author)

A two volume collection of newspaper articles and other writings by the Jacksonian era journalist and advocate of free banking and other free market policies, William Leggett.

A Collection of the Political Writings of William Leggett, vol. 1

William Leggett (author)

Volume 1 of a two volume collection of newspaper articles and other writings by the Jacksonian era journalist and advocate of free banking and other free market policies, William Leggett.

A Collection of the Political Writings of William Leggett, vol. 2

William Leggett (author)

Volume 2 of a two volume collection of newspaper articles and other writings by the Jacksonian era journalist and advocate of free banking and other free market policies, William Leggett.

Construction Construed and Constitutions Vindicated

John Taylor (author)

Taylor defends a strict “states rights” interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and advocates limited republican government.

Defence of Usury

Jeremy Bentham (author)

An 1818 edition which combines Bentham’s defence of the practice of charging interest on loans with a critique of certain taxes which increased the cost of appearing before the courts.

Another copy of this book can be found in HTML…

Dollar Stabilization

Irving Fisher (author)

The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was the last edition which appeared before the First World War destroyed the old liberal order in Europe. The next edition, the 12th, reproduced the 11th edition with the addition of 4…

An Enquiry into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain

Henry Thornton (author)

An important work on banking and money which was produced in reaction to the crisis of 1797 when the Bank of England suspended cash payments due to the costs of the wars against France. It has an equally important introduction by…

Fiat Money Inflation in France

Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay (author)

This work began as a paper read before the members of Congress in 1876. The later printed edition also includes a section from Macaulay’s History of England on cheap coinage.

“Finance and Banking in the Austrian Empire and the Republic of Austria”

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica was the last edition which appeared before the First World War destroyed the old liberal order in Europe. The next edition, the 12th, reproduced the 11th edition with the addition of 4…

The Forgotten Man and Other Essays (corrected edition)

William Graham Sumner (author)

24 essays and papers on topics ranging from protection, gold and silver currency, commercial crises, strikes, sociology, and education.

A History of American Currency

William Graham Sumner (author)

A collection of Sumner’s writing on money and banking with a reprint of the 1810 British *Report on Bullion”.

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 1 (U.S.A.)

William Graham Sumner (author)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York. Vol. 1 consists of “The United States,” by W.G. Sumner.

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 2

Antoine E. Horn (author)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city. Vol. 2 consists of: “Great Britain,” by H.D. Macleod; “The Russian Empire,” by A.E. Horn; “Savings Banks in the United…

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 3

Pierre des Essars (author)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city. Vol. 3 consists of: “The Latin Nations,” by P. Des Essars; “The Banks of Alsace-Lorraine after the Annexation,” by A.…

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, vol. 4

Max Wirth (contributor)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city. Vol. 4 consists of “Germany and Austria-Hungary,” by M. Wirth; “The Netherlands,” by R. van der Borght; “The Scandinavian…

A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations, 4 vols.

Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin (editor)

A four volume set edited by the Editor of the Journal of Commerce and Commercial Bulletin in New York city.

The History of Bimetallism in the United States (1898)

J Laurence Laughlin (author)

Laughlin states in the introduction that his aim is “to present only the facts bearing on the experiments of the United States with metallic money. No special attention, therefore, has been devoted to the theory of bimetallism or to…

“The Influence of the Rate of Interest on Prices”

Knut Wicksell (author)

A paper read before the Economic Section of the British Association, 1906.

Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market

Walter Bagehot (author)

When Walter Bagehot wrote Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market, in 1873, he did the unthinkable: In language as fresh and clear today as it was over 100 years ago, he respectfully dissected the Bank of England’s…

Money and the Mechanism of Exchange

William Stanley Jevons (author)

Jevons’s formative 1875 classic work came into print at the height of interest in gold, silver, and international monetary standards. Of particular interest are the clear discussions of Gresham’s Law (Ch. VIII), competitively…

The Natural Law of Money

William Brough (author)

An analysis of money and banking from the free banking perspective, i.e. by privately owned banks which issue their own currency.

Another copy of this book can be found in HTML format at our sister website Econlib.

On the Manipulation of Money and Credit: Three Treatises on Trade-Cycle Theory

Ludwig von Mises (author)

On the Manipulation of Money and Credit includes some of Mises’s most important contributions to monetary and trade-cycle theories. “Stabilization of the Monetary Unit from the Viewpoint of Theory,” discusses the consequences of the…

On the Probable Fall in the Value of Gold

Michel Chevalier (author)

As a result of Peel’s Bank Act of 1844 and the discovery of gold in California in 1848 a dramatic increase in the amount of gold entered into circulation. Richard Cobden translated an expanded version of Chevalier’s essay in order to…

Paper against Gold and Glory against Prosperity (1815)

William Cobbett (author)

Cobbett wrote the first volume of 28 Letters while in prison for two years (1810-11) for opposing the flogging of some militia men. It is a history of how Britain funded the war effort against Napoleon by increasing the national…

Paper against Gold and Glory against Prosperity, vol. 1 (1815)

William Cobbett (author)

Cobbett wrote the first volume of 28 Letters while in prison for two years (1810-11) for opposing the flogging of some militia men. It it a history of how Britain funded the war effort against Napoleon by increasing the national…

Paper against Gold and Glory against Prosperity, vol. 2 (1815)

William Cobbett (author)

Cobbett wrote the first volume of 28 Letters while in prison for two years (1810-11) for opposing the flogging of some militia men. It is a history of how Britain funded the war effort against Napoleon by increasing the national…

Political Essays on the Nature and Operation of Money

Pelatiah Webster (author)

Written during the American Revolution these economic essays cover topics such as money, free trade, the rate of interest, the nature of the constitution, public debt, bank credit, and taxation.

The Positive Theory of Capital

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk (author)

The second volume of Boehm-Bawerk’s monumental three volume work on Capital and Interest.

The Purchasing Power of Money

Irving Fisher (author)

A classic book by one of America’s greatest mathematical economists. Fisher states in the introduction that “The purpose of this book is to set forth the principles determining the purchasing power of money and to apply those…

The Rationale of Central Banking and the Free Banking Alternative

Vera C. Smith (author)

Written as a doctoral dissertation under Friedrich Hayek at the London School of Economics in the early 1930s, the book covers the history of free banking in the 19th century and reviews the theoretical arguments both for and against…

A Select Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts on Money

Matthew Raper (author)

The second of two important collections of early economics works made by McCulloch. This volume deals with coins and coinage, the export of gold and silver, and the history of coinage in Scotland, Ireland, England, and ancient Greece…

Taxation and Work: A Series of Treatises on the Tariff and the Currency

Edward Atkinson (author)

Atkinson applies the free trade ideas of Bastiat and Cobden to the American situation. He criticizes the tradition of Hamilton, debunks the idea that protection improves the economic condition of ordinary workers, argues that free…

The Theory of Free Banking: Money Supply under Competitive Note Issue

Lawrence H. White (foreword)

This is a defense of the theory and practice of free banking, i.e. the competitive issue of money by private banks as opposed to the centralised and monopolised issuance of currency under a system of central banking.

The Theory of Interest

Irving Fisher (author)

Fisher was one of America’s greatest mathematical economists. This book is still used a textbook and is an outstanding example of clearly written economic theory.

The Theory of Money and Credit

Ludwig von Mises (author)

The Theory of Money and Credit opened new economic vistas. It integrated monetary theory into the main body of economic analysis for the first time, providing fresh new insights into the nature of money and its role in the economy.…

Three Lectures on the Cost of Obtaining Money

Nassau William Senior (author)

Senior gave these lectures at the University of Oxford in Trinity Term 1829. The Third Lecture is on “Some Effects of Government Paper Money” and deals with a number of historical episodes of hyper inflation.

Three Lectures on the Transmission of Precious Metals

Nassau William Senior (author)

In a rather grumpy “advertisement” Senior tells us that he rather unwillingly had to give a formal lecture as Professor of Political Economy at Oxford University and have it published. The books contains a lecture on the transmission…

A Treatise on Metallic and Paper Money and Banks (1858)

John Ramsay McCulloch (author)

This is an 80 page encyclopedia article on money and banking which includes a discussion of gold and silver backed money, paper money, private banks, and a brief history of banking in England, France, Scotland, Ireland, and the US.

Treatises and Essays on Subjects connected with Economic Policy (1853)

John Ramsay McCulloch (author)

A collection of essays some of which were previously published in the Encyclopedia Britannica. They cover money, exchange, rent, the history of commerce, maritime law, and biographical essays on Quesnay, Smith, and Ricardo.

Vorlesungen über Nationalökonomie auf Grundlage des Marginalprinzipes. Vol. 2

Margarethe Langfeldt (translator)

Volume 2 of a two volume set of lectures given by Wicksell. He bases his ideas on the idea of the marginal principle and covers topics such as money, credit, and banking. It is in German.

William Brough and Gresham’s Law

Related Links:

The Natural Law of Money

Source: This biographical essay was originally written by Lauren Landsburg, the Editor of the Library of Economics and Liberty (Econlib) and it can be found here. Special thanks to George…

The Works and Life of Walter Bagehot, vol. 2 (Historical & Financial Essays)

Mrs. Russell Barrington (editor)

This volume contains essays on Macaulay, Gibbon, Peel, Shelley, and two essays on banking and the currency crisis.

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 2

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. II (Convention of New York; Letters of H.G.; Taxation and Finance; Finance) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 3

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. III (Finance; National Bank) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and letters are important for understanding this period as he…

The Works of Alexander Hamilton, (Federal Edition), vol. 4

Henry Cabot Lodge (editor)

Vol. IV (Coinage and the Mint; Industry and Commerce; Commercial Relations; Foreign Relations) of a twelve volume collection of the works of Alexander Hamilton who served at a formative period of the American Republic. His papers and…

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Quotes

Money & Banking

Adam Smith on money as an instrument of commerce as well as a measure of value

Adam Smith

Money & Banking

Alexander Hamilton on the Constitutionality of a National Bank

Alexander Hamilton

Money & Banking

Bagehot on Government, the banking system, and moral hazard (1873)

Walter Bagehot

Money & Banking

Bagehot on the monopoly central bank (1873)

Walter Bagehot

Money & Banking

David Ricardo on the “mere increase of money” (1809)

David Ricardo

Economics

David Ricardo, Paper Money, and the Abuse of Power

David Ricardo

Money & Banking

Ludwig von Mises argues that sound money is an instrument for the protection of civil liberties and a means of limiting government power (1912)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Ludwig von Mises identifies the source of the disruption of the world monetary order as the failed policies of governments and their central banks (1934)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Ludwig von Mises lays out five fundamental truths of monetary expansion (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Mises on classical liberalism and the gold standard (1928)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Mises on the gold standard as the symbol of international peace and prosperity (1949)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Mises on the State Theory of Money (1912)

Ludwig von Mises

Money & Banking

Nassau Senior on how the universal acceptance of gold and silver currency creates a world economy (1830)

Nassau William Senior

Money & Banking

Thomas Jefferson and The National Bank Question Yet Again: 1813-1817

Thomas Jefferson

Money & Banking

William Leggett on the separation of bank and state (1837)

William Leggett