Scottish free banking ended in 1845 due to the careless extension of England's Peel's Act to Scotland on the assumption that what was good for England suited Scotland too; the Act capped note issues and imposed 100% marginal reserve requirements, ultimately giving the Bank of England a currency monopoly without solving instability.

causalpending

Speaker

George Selgin

Evidence Quote

that ended up giving the Bank of England ultimately a complete monopoly of currency and it didn't solve the problem because you had Bank of England deposits that could equally serve as reserves for other banks

Source

George Selgin on Free Banking 11/17/2008EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:20:23 AM

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