ABSTRACT
The economists of the eighteenth century regarded free banking as the natural banking system, and they believed that the most efficient, stable and just way of organizing it was to allow it to grow spontaneously. As early as 1735 Richard Cantillon in his famous book Essai sur la nature du commerce en général criticized the monopolistic privileges granted to banks by European governments. The first physiocrat, Vincent de Gournay, using for the first time the maxim ‘Laissez-faire, laissez-passer’, advocated the abolition of all restrictions on agriculture, commerce, industry and credit. He also advocated the freedom of interest rates, against the prejudices of his time, in favour of usury.
