Mere Quibbles: Bagus and Howden's Critique of The Theory of Free Banking

26 Pages Posted: 2 Apr 2011 Last revised: 8 Apr 2011

See all articles by George Selgin

George Selgin

The Cato Institute; University of Georgia

Date Written: April 4, 2011

Abstract

Despite its title, Philipp Bagus and David Howden's critique of The Theory of Free Banking does more than merely "quibble" with that book's arguments: their criticisms of those arguments are such as to suggest that the very foundation upon which my defense of free banking rests is deeply flawed. Here I defend my work against Bagus and Howden's criticisms, by showing that they rest upon careless or disingenuous readings of my arguments and a poor grasp of basic monetary economics.

Keywords: free banking, fractional reserves, Austrian theory of the business cycle

JEL Classification: E31, E32, E41, E42, G21

Suggested Citation

Selgin, George, Mere Quibbles: Bagus and Howden's Critique of The Theory of Free Banking (April 4, 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1800813 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1800813

George Selgin (Contact Author)

The Cato Institute ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.cato.org/centers/center-monetary-financial-alternatives

University of Georgia ( email )

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706-542-3376 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.terry.uga.edu/directory/economics/george-a-selgin.html

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