ABSTRACT
Everymodemandfreeeconomyfollowstheusefulbutcurious practiceofpermittingprivatebankstocreatecredit;thestate, ineffect,cedestoprivatecompaniespartofitsownpowerto increaseordecreasetheamountofmoneyavailableinthe country.I f thispoweroftheprivatebanksistobecoordinated, somesortofcentralbankingsystem,subjecttopubliccontrol, mustexist.Thisisnowsomuchtakenforgrantedthatitis easytoforgethowdifficultitwastoestablishcentralbanking i n theUnitedStatesandhowrecentlythedifficultieswere overcome.
