The National Banking System: a brief history

During the period of the National Banking System (1863–1913), national banks could issue bank notes backed by holdings of eligible U.S. government securities. This paper presents an overview of the legal and financial history of this period. It begins with the reasons the National Banking System was created. It also examines the rules of operation for national banks as established by the National Banking Act and its subsequent revisions. Furthermore, the paper serves as a brief financial history of the period, examining the various forces that shaped the environment in which national banks operated.National banks (United States)

Survey of LAN infrastructure and ICT equipment in schools 2005: main report

Nationally representative technical audit of school infrastructure - full repor

Stamp scrip: money people paid to use

Substitutes for government-issued money are produced and used from time to time even in countries like the United States. Understanding why people turn to these substitutes and to what degree they are successful—or not—can teach us a lot about the elements essential to a well-functioning currency.Currency substitution ; Money

National bank notes and silver certificates

From 1883 to 1892, the circulation of national bank notes in the United States fell nearly 50 percent. Previous studies have attributed this to supply-side factors that led to a decline in the profitability of note issue during this period. This paper provides an alternative explanation. The decline in note issue was, in large part, demand-driven. The presence of a competing currency with superior features caused the public to substitute away from national bank notes.Paper money ; National bank notes ; Silver

Private money in our past, present, and future

The government isn’t the only entity allowed to issue money. Private citizens and businesses can too, and throughout U.S. history, they often have. But private money—as such money is called—isn’t issued much these days. What lessons have our experiences with private money taught us, and what do they imply for our money today and in the future?Paper money ; Money

Open and operating: providing liquidity to avoid a crisis

The terrorist attacks of 9/11 triggered a staggering increase in demand for U.S. dollars all over the world, a demand that threatened to disrupt the American payments system but was met swiftly and successfully by the Federal Reserve. Earlier in the nation’s history, the system didn’t respond so well to severe shocks. This Commentary describes financial crises that occurred during one period in which the country had no central bank.Banks and banking - History ; Financial crises ; Liquidity (Economics)

Fear and loathing of central banks in America

The Federal Reserve System is America’s uneasy compromise between our dislike of concentrated financial power and our desire to promote efficiency in our national payments system. In fact, the Federal Reserve is the nation’s third attempt to establish a large national bank—what we now call a central bank—that is in a unique position to influence a nation’s money and credit. This Commentary retells the story of the rise and fall of the two earlier national banks, the Banks of the United States.Banks and banking, Central ; Banks and banking - History

The National Banking System: empirical observations

This paper provides a summary of the main features of U.S. financial and banking data during the period of the National Banking System (1863–1914). The purpose of the paper is to provide an overview of the stylized facts associated with the era, with an emphasis on those impinging on national bank behavior. The paper takes a detailed look at key elements of national bank balance sheets over time, over the seasons, and during panic periods. The interesting and puzzling patterns of interest rate movements during the era also are examined. The paper introduces a new set of disaggregated data on the national bank era that has not been examined by prior research. As data are presented in the paper, some of the key puzzles associated with the era are introduced.National banks (United States) ; Banks and banking - History

Resolving the National Banking System note-issue puzzle

Under the National Banking System, 1863-1914, national banks that deposited sufficient collateral could issue notes provided they paid a tax on notes in circulation: 1 percent per year before 1900 and 1/2 percent thereafter. Because note issue was far below the allowed maximum, an arbitrage argument predicts that short-term nominal interest rates should have been bounded above by the tax rate. They were not. That is the note-issue puzzle. Our resolution takes the form of a model in which notes play a role, but in which the profitability of note issue is not tied to anything that resembles a market rate of interest.Bank notes ; National banks (United States)