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

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

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Central <strong>and</strong> Free <strong>Bank</strong>ing <strong>The</strong>ory 619under disadvantages, by encreasing money beyond its naturalproportion to labour <strong>and</strong> commodities, <strong>and</strong> therebyheightening their price to the merchant <strong>and</strong> manufacturer.And in this view, it must be allowed, that no bank could bemore advantageous, than such a one as locked up all themoney it received [this is the case with the <strong>Bank</strong> of AMS-TERDAM], <strong>and</strong> never augmented the circulating coin, as isusual, by returning part of its treasure into commerce. 34Equally valuable is Hume’s essay, “Of Interest,” devotedentirely to criticizing the mercantilist (now Keynesian) notionthat a connection exists between the quantity of money <strong>and</strong>the interest rate. Hume’s reasoning follows:For suppose, that, by miracle, every man in GREATBRITAIN should have five pounds slipt into his pocket inone night; this would much more than double the wholemoney that is at present in the kingdom; yet there would notnext day, not for some time, be any more lenders, nor anyvariation in the interest. 35According to Hume, the influence of money on the interestrate is only temporary (i.e., short-term) when money isincreased through credit expansion <strong>and</strong> a process is initiatedwhich, once completed, causes interest to revert to the previousrate:<strong>The</strong> encrease of lenders above the borrowers sinks theinterest; <strong>and</strong> so much the faster, if those, who haveacquired those large sums, find no industry or commerce inthe state, <strong>and</strong> no method of employing their money but bylending it at interest. But after this new mass of gold <strong>and</strong> silverhas been digested, <strong>and</strong> has circulated through the whole state,affairs will soon return to their former situation; while the l<strong>and</strong>lords<strong>and</strong> new money-holders, living idly, squ<strong>and</strong>er abovetheir income; <strong>and</strong> the former daily contract debt, <strong>and</strong> thelatter encroach on their stock till its final extinction. <strong>The</strong>whole money may still be in the state, <strong>and</strong> make itself felt34 Ibid., pp. 284–85.35 Hume, “Of Interest,” Essays, p. 299.

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