Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles - The Ludwig von Mises ...

90 Money, Bank Credit, and Economic CyclesAs we see, Martín de Azpilcueta regards the monetaryirregular-deposit contract as a completely legitimate contractby which people entrust the custody of their money to a professional(the banker), who must safeguard it like a good parentand keep it constantly available to the depositors, providingwhatever cashier services they ask of him; and he has aright to charge the depositors a fee for his services. As a matterof fact, Martín de Azpilcueta feels it is the depositors whomust pay the depositary or banker and never the reverse, sodepositors “pay in compensation for the trouble and worriesthe moneychanger has in receiving and safeguarding theirmoney,” and bankers must conducttheir business honestly and be satisfied with a fair wage,receiving it from those who owe it to them and whosemoney they safeguard and whose accounts they keep, andnot from those who are not indebted to them. 87Moreover, in an effort to clarify matters and avoid confusion,Martín de Azpilcueta (using the same reasoning as DoctorSaravia de la Calle) expressly condemns clients who wishto pay nothing for the custody of their deposits and try to evenearn interest on them. Doctor Navarro concludes thatin this sort of exchange, not only the moneychangers sin, butalso . . . those who entrust their money to them for safekeepingas above. They later refuse to pay a fee, claiming theprofits earned with their money and received from thosethey pay in cash is enough of a wage. And if the moneychangersrequest a fee, the customers leave them and taketheir business elsewhere. So, to keep these clients, thebankers renounce their fee and instead take money fromthose who owe them nothing. 88published by Andrés de Portanarijs in Salamanca in 1556, as well as thePortuguese edition, published by Ioam de Barreyra in Coimbra in 1560and entitled Comentario resolutorio de onzenas. In this edition, the text correspondingto the above quotes appears on pp. 77–80.87 Azpilcueta, Comentario resolutorio de cambios, pp. 60–61.88 Ibid., p. 61.