Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/123765 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
Bank of Canada Working Paper No. 2015-18
Publisher: 
Bank of Canada, Ottawa
Abstract: 
The period from 1914 to 1935 in the United States is unique in that it was the only time that both privately-issued bank notes (national bank notes) and central bank-issued bank notes (Federal Reserve notes) were simultaneously in circulation. This paper describes some lessons relevant to e-money from the U.S. experience during this period. It argues that Federal Reserve notes were not issued to be a superior currency to national bank notes. Rather, they were issued to enable the Federal Reserve System to act as a lender of last resort in times of financial stress. It also argues that the reason to eventually eliminate national bank notes was that they were potentially a source of bank reserves. As such, they could have threatened the Federal Reserve System's control of the reserves of the banking system and thereby the Fed's control of monetary policy.
Subjects: 
Bank notes
E-money
Financial services
JEL: 
E41
E42
E58
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
474.58 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.