Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
AndrzejSławiński
Introduction
Thegoalofthispaperistoinvestigatewheth-
ertheemergenceoftheITtechnologiesand
theadvancingglobalisationarelikelytochange
theexistingmechanismofmoneycreation.The
paperofferstwogeneralconclusions.
Thefirstoneisthattherecentlyexpressed
hopesforcryptocurrenciesandCBDC(central
bankdigitalcurrencies)tosubstitutetherecent
formsofmoneydonotsufficientlytakeinto
accounttheproblemoftheefficientmoneyal-
location.Atpresent,thisconditionismetonlyby
depositmoneycreatedbycommercialbanks.The
secondconclusion,illustratedbythefunctioning
oftheEurodollarmarketandtheEurozonepay-
mentsystem(TARGET2),isthattheefficient
functioningoftheglobalmonetarysystemneeds
themostimportantcentralbankstoplaytherole
ofinternationallendersoflastresort.
Thepaperisorganisedasfollows.Section2
pointsoutthat,contrarytowhatiscommonly
believed,moneyiscreatednotbycentralbanks,
butbycommercialones.Section3explainswhy
cryptocurrenciesintheirpresentformshouldbe
treatedasspeculativeassetsusedwidely(dueto
theiranonymity)forillicitoperationsratherthan
asgenuinemoney.Section4discusseswhy,asfar
aselectronicmoneyisconcerned,theonlyrational
optionforcentralbanksistoissuecashsubstitutes
asameansofpaymentratherthandepositmoney.
Section5underlinesthatalsotheinternational
currencies,suchastheUSdollar,arecreatedby
commercialbanks.Section6underscorestherole
oftheEuropeanCentralBank(ECB)inshielding
Eurozonedebtorcountriesfromamuchdeeper
financialcrisisthanthatwhichtheyactually
suffered.Section7drawslessonsfromtheanalysed
experiences.Section8isaconcludingpart.
Howismoneycreated?
Thevastmajorityofmoneysupplycomes
intheformofdepositmoney,whichoriginatesfrom
commercialbanks’lendingactivity(McLeayet.
al.,2014)2.Perhapsthebestwaytoillustratethis
factistorecallhowmoneywascreatedinthefree
bankingera,whentherewasnocentralbank
intheUnitedStates(Sanches,2016;Marszałek,
2014).
Moneycreationresultsfromcommercialbanks
monetisingthestreamsoffutureloanrepayments
byborrowers.Nonetheless,fromthetechnical
pointofview,commercialbankscreatemoney
outofthinair,justbymeansofenteringthesame
amounts(theloanandthedeposit)onbothsides
oftheirbalancesheets.JamesTobinaptlydescribed
itasfountainpenmoney,sinceinhistimethedeposit
moneywascreatedwiththestrokeofapen
(Tobin,1963).
Duringtheperiodoffreebanking,thebanknotes
andthedepositsissuedbycommercialbankswere
trusted,becausetheywereredeemable(ondemand)
intogoldatafixedparityandthegovernment
acceptedthemfortaxpayments.Today,deposit
moneyistrusted,becauseitisredeemableinto
banknoteshavingthestatusofalegaltender.
Whywasinflationrelativelystableduring
thefreebankingeradespitetheabsenceofacentral
bankintheUnitedStates?Thereasonwasthat19
th-
centurybanksextendedalmostexclusivelyshort-
termself-liquidatingworkingcapitalloans,which
financedmainlyfirms’runningstocks(Gorton,
1993).Insuchanenvironment,thequantityofmoney
increasedinlinewiththesupplyofgoodsand
services,whichhadaninflation-stabilisingeffect.
ThatiswhytheRealBillsDoctrine,dominatingat
thattime,reflectedrealitytoalargeextent.
ThemainreasonwhytheFederalReserve
Systemwasestablishedin1913wasthatduring
financialcrises(theespeciallypainfulonetook
placein1907)commercialbankswereincapable
ofmusteringsufficientliquidreservestomeet
depositwithdrawals,whichresultedinrunson
banksandtheirbankruptcies.
2
Thepaperdoesnotdiscusstheproblemofhelicopter
money(moneyfinancingofbudgetdeficit)asthisconcept
stilllacksinstitutionalsolutionswhichwouldeffectively
shieldaneconomyfrominflationrisk(Turner,2016).
6
ZarządzaniePubliczne/PublicGovernance4(50)/2019
