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

812 Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cyclessystem be subject to and comply with traditional legal rulesand principles, especially the principle that no one, not even abanker, can enjoy the privilege of loaning something entrustedto him on demand deposit (i.e., a free-banking system with a100-percent reserve requirement).Until specialists and society in general fully grasp theessential theoretical and legal principles associated withmoney, bank credit, and economic cycles, we may realisticallyexpect further suffering in the world due to damaging financialcrises and economic recessions which will inevitably andperpetually reappear until central banks lose their power toissue paper money with legal tender and bankers lose theirgovernment-granted privilege of operating with a fractionalreserve. We now wrap up the book as we began it, with thisopinion: Now that we have seen the historic fall of socialism,both in theory and in practice, the main challenge to face bothprofessional economists and lovers of freedom in this centurywill be to use all of their intellectual might to oppose the institutionof the central bank and the privilege private bankersnow enjoy.