Using a new biography of banks, we examine the stability of Irish banking from 1797 to 1826 by constructing a failure rate series. We find that the ultimate cause of the frequent and severe banking crises was the crisis-prone structure of the banking system, which was designed to benefit the...

In the eighteenth century, a fierce political debate broke out in Sweden about the causes of an extraordinary depreciation of its currency. More specifically, the deteriorating value of the Swedish daler was discretionarily blamed on monetary causes, e.g. the overissuing of banknotes, or...

This paper studies money demand in Switzerland under free banking before the establishment of the Swiss National Bank. We find that, in addition to income, the banks' balance-sheet-to-GDP ratio and the number of banks were important determinants of long-run money demand. The former variable also...

This paper examines the Swedish record of competition in the supply of bank notes in the 19th century. Between 1831 and 1902, private commercial banks, organized as partnerships with unlimited liability for their owners, issued notes competing with the notes of the Riksbank, the bank owned by...

Currency debasement, defined as a loss of precious metal content (intrinsic value) of the circulating penny currencies over time, was a common feature in the monetary history of Europe, c. 1400–1900. Over the centuries the loss rate was sustained; between 1400 and 1900 A. D. the (south) German...

In den letzten drei Jahrhunderten wurde mehrmals der Versuch gestartet, eine stabile Währungsunion aus souveränen Staaten zu bilden. Vier historische Beispiele sollen durch ihre Entstehungsgeschichte und ihren Zerfall Aufschluss darüber geben, welche Gründe und Ursachen die Instabilität von...

This paper outlines a model of the first true central bank, the Bank of Amsterdam, founded in 1609. Employing a variant of the Freeman (1996) model of money and payments, we first analyze the problematic monetary situation in the Netherlands prior to the founding of the Bank. We then use the...

This works covers peculiarities of formation of Georgian monetary system in XI-XII centuries and their effect on the international financial and economic relations. In this works we have researched the matters of formation of monetary policy of feudal age and their effect on development of...

The historical experience from the past 100 years or so indicates that parts of the labourmarket structure in Denmark are endogenously dependent on the monetary regime. A credible monetary regime that delivers on the final target of price stability gives a basis for inflation expectations firmly...

This paper studies the role of bank notes issued by the private Enskilda banks in the expansion of the Swedish monetary stock under the classic specie standard maintained during the period 1834-1913. The use of balance sheets has made possible the estimation of more accurate and continuous...