I am currently collecting together proposals for full reserve banking for a new website. I know that a section of Austrian economists support the idea - but I do not know of a book or document which constitutes a proposal for a full reserve system. Is there such a thing - something along the lines of "100% money" by Irving Fisher.
What Went Wrong with Economics
Rothbard goes into this as he explains the case for a fully commodity-backed currency (as well as a practical, step-by-step plan for making it happen)...
The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar, & The Case for a Genuine Gold Dollar by Murray Rothbard
(and you might go ahead with
just for good measure)
Actually, here's the full recommended reading list, in order.
Re: "The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar" - thanks very much for that.
As I understand it, it is also possible to have a full reserve system even with a purely fiat currency. Is there an AE proposal for that too?
De Soto!
mickanomics:As I understand it, it is also possible to have a full reserve system even with a purely fiat currency. Is there an AE proposal for that too?
Not that I've ever heard of. Because if you have to order them in terms of harm/potential harm, fiat currency ranks far beyond fractional reserve banking. There is actually support on both sides of the FRB argument, with some Austrians being fervently against it and others making the case for it (aka dichotomy between "free bankers" and "hundred-percent reservists").
However there is virtually no one—at least of an Austrian (and even general free market) persuasion—who argues that money backed by nothing is not inherently destructive and confiscatory. Even as Milton Friedman was arguing his monetarist perspective he was constantly berating the constant printing of the Fed (and of course later in life said the central bank should be abolished entirely).
Other sources you might look into:
Books, articles, essays:
Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles
Fractional reserve banking
Free banking
Walter Block versus Bryan Caplan on Fractional Reserve Banking
Threads:
Federal Reserve links
Fractional Reserve Banking Revisited
Fractional Reserve Banking really inflationary?
Doubt on fractional reserve banking
The Myth of Fractional Reserve Banking as Fraud
Why are We Still Debating Fractional Reserve Banking?
In defense of fractional-reserve banking
Fractional Reserve Banking and Lone Banking
without fractional reserve(s)
How the Federal Reserve Works
mickanomics: Re: "The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar" - thanks very much for that. As I understand it, it is also possible to have a full reserve system even with a purely fiat currency. Is there an AE proposal for that too?
The problem with a 100% reserve system under fiat currency is that there is nothing stopping the government from printing more money, which allows for the boom bust cycle to continue.
I favor 100% reserve mandate, but only with hard money.
You may like How Private Banking Really Works by Lara and Murphy. They explain whats wrong and how to make an escape exit from the current system.
If you have a money warehouse holding fiat currency, how do you plan on competing with fractional reserve banks who commit bailment fraud and even get publicly funded insurance for their fraud?
I think the only way you can reallistically compete is to hold precious metals like gold and silver.
One concern is that a good portion of the US states prohibit their residents to own gold or silver held outside the country.
" 21 states have enacted the MCA or some variation of it: Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Washington"
http://silverbearcafe.com/private/01.10/offshore.html