The Experience of Free Banking is a collection of historical case studies of free banking, which is an historic term to describe a system in which banks issue their own notes, without the presence of a central bank.
The Experience of Free Banking is a collection of historical case studies of free banking, which is an historic term to describe a system in which banks issue their own notes, without the presence of a central bank.
Many people mistakenly – but perhaps understandably – believe that ‘free banking’ means paying no charges for their bank accounts. But ‘free banking’ is really an historic term to describe a system in which banks issue their own notes – without the presence of a central bank (such as the Bank of England in the UK). For some, this may seem an alien concept. But free banking has already been explored in many countries around the world. The Experience of Free Banking (first published in 1992) analyses the impact of free banking in such countries as Australia, Canada, France, the US and more. And this revised second edition widens and updates its scope to encompass free banking in Belgium, Italy, China and further afield. Featuring chapters from distinguished economists around the world, it also incorporates an innovative guide, providing an invaluable starting point for researchers delving into the historical impact and effectiveness of free banking – or assessing its future potential.
Kevin Dowd is Professor of Finance and Economics at Durham University. A lifelong classical liberal, his main interests are in private money and free banking, but he is also interested in general political economy, monetary and financial economics, regulation, risk management and pensions. His books include Private Money: The Path to Monetary Stability (IEA, 1998); The State and the Monetary System (Philip Allan, 1989); Laissez-Faire Banking (Routledge, 1992); Competition and Finance: A New Interpretation of Financial and Monetary Economics (Macmillan, 1996); and, with Martin Hutchinson, Alchemists of Loss: How Modern Finance and Government Intervention Crashed the Financial System (Wiley, 2010). He edited the first edition of The Experience of Free Banking (Routledge, 1992) and, with R. H. Timberlake Jr, Money and the Nation State: The Financial Revolution, Government and the World Monetary System (Transaction Publishers, 1998). He has published widely in academic journals and is an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute, a senior fellow with the Cobden Centre and a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Institute of Economic Affairs. He lives in Sheffield, England, with his family.
