Any books that explain it in depth?
Yes. The Theory of Free Banking by George Selgin and The Theory of Monetary Institutions by Lawrence White. There are some really good articles as well like In Defense of Fiduciary Media by Selgin and White. And there’s an interesting articles called Did Hayek and Robbins Deepen the Great Depression by White (sorry that I keep linking works by Selgin and White but they’ve done the most and best work on this subject) that is related to free banking - it’s really good and different from the ‘standard’ Austrian account of the Great Depression.
Just to let you know The Mystery of Free Banking is an anti-FRB book. The article I posted above, In Defense of Fiduciary Media, addresses some of the criticisms. If you want more articles responding to Rothbard’s (or any other Austrian) criticisms just let me know.
I briefly looked through the book, and it seems to be a beefed up version of “The Case Against The Fed”. I already know a lot about what money ‘is’, and how it came about in society, etc. At this point I’m looking for something that tackles just the topic of fractional reserve, and in particular, how it is operating currently in our society. Some of those books explain it well enough to get the core concepts down, but I’d like to find something that gives more examples and fleshes out the transactions in money creation.
Having said that, thank you for your help.
I just noticed that DD5 posted the book I was referring to. Hopefully the ones you posted have what I’m looking for.
Again, thank you.
If you want historical examples of free banking I highly recommend Free Banking in Britain by Lawrence White.
“At this point I’m looking for something that tackles just the topic of fractional reserve, and in particular, how it is operating currently in our society”
“I mean more day to day stuff.”
Then that’s the book you want. No, it’s not a beefed up version of the “Case Against The Fed”.
The book has a rather accurate description of the mechanics of FRB, as well as the credit expansion process of a centralized banking system.
I mean more day to day stuff.
I’m not going to continue to post in this thread as it would lead to an argument but TMOB is not an accurate representation of FRB. FRB was one of the subjects Rothbard was completely wrong about.
You’re correct that it would lead to an argument. I would argue with you
Well, I thank both of you. I’ll take a look through all of what you’ve recommended, and hopefully it’ll give me what I want. It would be nice if there was a textbook of this stuff, but we all know it’s not taught in schools…
justinxOr,
The articles you have provided have absolutely nothing “in depth” about Banking. I respected your suggestion and said nothing. Those articles should be read but not for the purpose of what was requested.
The fact of the matter is that TMOB is a rather accurate exposition of how fractional reserve banking works, regardless if you think that is not fraudulent or can be productive or whatever…