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...

In 1936-37, the Federal Reserve doubled the reserve requirements imposed on member banks. Ever since, the question of whether the doubling of reserve requirements increased reserve demand and produced a contraction of money and credit, and thereby helped to cause the recession of 1937-1938, has...

"This book traces the role of money in the creation of the state. From US independence to the establishment of the EU and the breakup of the USSR and beyond, Wilson examines changing attitudes about monetary sovereignty, arguing for a more rational attitude toward money as a means of...