Background
Sechrest, Larry James was born on October 12, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Son of Howard J. and Frances C. Sechrest.
(Free Banking: Theory, History and a Laissez-Faire Model b...)
Free Banking: Theory, History and a Laissez-Faire Model by Larry Sechrest is a magnificent work, now rescued from undeserved obscurity with this new edition. Published in 1993, it is a formalization and extension of literature in the free banking area, with important correctives and clarifications. He argues that the debate over central banking and free banking is the most important economic issue of the day. Central banking accepts all the methodological precepts of socialist central planning. It is constructivist. The planners pretend to know more than they can know. They presume that their knowledge is better than the market. They use their power to override market signals of prices and interest. And the results are about as successful as socialism, and he proves this point with the first formal model of central vs. free banking, one that combines Hayek, Selgin, and Garrison to show that a competitive system would be self correcting where a centralized one is not. He goes further to analyze banking institutions in light of Say's Law which argues for the stability of macroeconomic phenomena in the absence of intervention. He further distinguishes the Austrian position from the monetarist one. Sechrest's attack on countercyclical policy is especially poignant today. He argues that even the most well-executed plan has no hope for success. Such policies fail because they are swimming against a market tide, and, moreover, monetary officials have no incentive to pursue socially optimal results; rather, their every institutional bias tends toward protecting the banking industry and the government before anything else. Sechrest contrasts this centralized model with looking at the detailed history, however, he finds serious problems in the case of free banking in Scotland, as described by Larry White. 232 page paperback, 2007, 6x9
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001D187F0/?tag=2022091-20
( Free banking is a term that refers to the total deregul...)
Free banking is a term that refers to the total deregulation of the banking industry. It signifies an absence of such constraints as reserve requirements, capital requirements, government deposit insurance, and limitations on branching. Above all, it means that private banks would be allowed to issue their own currency. This book takes a fresh approach to that controversial topic. Sechrest proposes that free banking constitutes the final vindication of Say's Law, that the optimal monetary goal, monetary equilibrium, can only be achieved under free banking, that the monetarist and Austrian business cycle theories are complementary, and that the most likely form of free banking will be that in which banks issue specie-convertible notes and hold fractional reserves. After defining free banking the author explains why he adopts the well known White-Selgin model. He then discusses the key characteristics of laissez-faire banks, which form the basis for a formal model, complete with graphs, which may be used in the classroom. The unique relationship between the market for money and the market for time that exists under free banking suggests that business cycles will be minimized under such a regime. That relationship also leads to the insight that the Austrian and monetarist cycle theories are really two sides of the same coin. New evidence is presented that leads the author to the conclusion that both Lawrence White's portrayal of Scottish free banking and the traditional image of American free banking are exaggerated. Three different basic models of free banking are then reviewed in detail and critiqued. Finally, the author suggests both some possible topics for future research and that free banking is desirable socially and politically as well as economically.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0899308155/?tag=2022091-20
Sechrest, Larry James was born on October 12, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Son of Howard J. and Frances C. Sechrest.
Bachelor in History, University Texas, Arlington, 1968. Master of Arts in Economics, University Texas, Arlington, 1985. Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, University Texas, Arlington, 1990.
Instructor University Texas, Arlington, 1985-1990. Professor economics Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas, from 1990. Adjunct scholar Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn, Alabama, from 1996.
Research fellow Indiana Institute, Oakland, California. Foundation scholar Foundation Advancement of Monetary Education, from 1996. Board advisors Defense of Freedom Foundation, Newport Beach, California.
(Free Banking: Theory, History and a Laissez-Faire Model b...)
( Free banking is a term that refers to the total deregul...)
Member National Association Scholars, United States Naval Institute, Association Private Enterprise Education, History Society, Society Development Austrian Economics, International Maritime Economic History Association, Southern Economic Association, New York Academy of Sciences.
Children: J. Kyle, R. Tara. Married Mary Ann Sechrest.