This paper explores the possibility that the establishment of central banks may have not been the result of socially beneficial public policy but the result of rent-seeking. I use the case of the most powerful central bank in the world as a model. In the paper I classify and explain the possible...

This paper examines the origins and early performance of the Federal Reserve as lender of last resort. The Fed was established to overcome the problems of the National Banking era, in particular an “inelastic” currency and the absence of an effective lender of last resort. As conceived by...

What were the purposes for establishment of central banks? Central banks are historically relatively young organizations. Their main purposes are to regulate money supply through interest rates, regulate the banking sector and act as a lender of last resort to banking sector during the time of...

Modern central banks have come to view payment systems as a key area of strategic interest, both as part of their responsibilities for financial stability and for the implementation of monetary policy. By considering the evolution of interbank settlement arrangements and central banking...

This paper examines the origins and early performance of the Federal Reserve as lender of last resort. The Fed was established to overcome the problems of the National Banking era, in particular an inelastic currency and the absence of an effective lender of last resort. As conceived by Paul...

What were the purposes for establishment of central banks? Central banks are historically relatively young organizations. Their main purposes are to regulate money supply through interest rates, regulate the banking sector and act as a lender of last resort to banking sector during the time of...

Recent American and European financial crises prompt the questions: under what conditions do crises end, when does a rescue plan crystallize, and how does a rescue happen? I examine a successful rescue operation in the worst pre-Federal Reserve financial crisis, the Panic of 1907, with these...

I classify three possible interest group motives for the establishment of the Federal Reserve System. First, is a short description of the National Banking Era. I argue that while (i) the professional community quite truthfully recognized the problems with National Banking, motives of (ii) the...

The unit banking structure of the United States gave rise to a uniquely important interbank correspondent network, which linked banks throughout the country during the National Banking Era. During normal times, these interbank network relationships provided banks with access to money markets,...

We review the bank regulatory and supervisory practices of the National Banking Era and argue that their primary focus was both micro- and macro-prudential. Regulatory limits on real estate lending and large required cash holdings focused on systemic risk issues and successfully limited serious...