Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. From War Financier to Bankers’ Bank -- Chapter 3. Central Banks under the Gold Standard -- Chapter 4. The Federal Reserve: A Unique Institution -- Chapter 5. From War to War: 1914-1939 -- Chapter 6. Post-war Progress: 1946-1960 -- Chapter 7. The 1960s:...

Central banks are major players in today's economic and financial policy making. While respected for their technical acumen and their pivotal role in defusing the global financial crisis, they are at the same time mistrusted by others and considered to be too powerful. In order to contribute to...

We document the twin crisis that affected Spain in the mid-1860s. First, we trace back its origins to the international crisis of 1864-66. Next, we describe the particular banking sector of Spain, characterized by the coexistence of the Bank of Spain with multiple local banks of issue. We...

In this paper we survey the development of lending of last resort operations in the mid-19th century. We identify and document critical dimensions of the extension of lending of last resort functions, and also develop original empirical tests enabling us to identify such things as the emergence...

The outbreak of World War I shut the New York Stock Exchange for more than four months. The conventional explanation maintains that the closure prevented a collapse in stock prices that threatened a repetition of the Panic of 1907. This paper shows that the Wilson Administration encouraged the...

Christoph Türcke geht den archaischen Ursprüngen des Geldes nach und entwickelt eine historisch-philosophische Genealogie, die von den sakralen Anfängen bis in die Gegenwart reicht. Detektivisch legt er offen, wie es zur "Plusmacherei" und wie es zur Münze kam. Er stellt das kapitalistische...