What are some salient historical examples of free banking?
The best historical example of free banking is Scotland during the 19th century. Other examples include the United States from the collapse of the Second Bank of US in the 1830s to the Civil War and Australia during the 19th century. The American example is highly variable because banking laws varied from state to state. Even in this example, there were some special laws for banking, but these were not as intrusive as central banking or as far-reaching as the heavy regulation present today. (See Dowd 1993 for details on all of these. See Selgin 1988 for other examples of free banking. See Bodenhorn 2000 for an overview of banking and business practices in the Antebellum Era.
The best historical example of free banking is Scotland during the 19th century. Other examples include the United States from the collapse of the Second Bank of US in the 1830s to the Civil War and Australia during the 19th century. The American example is highly variable because banking laws varied from state to state. Even in this example, there were some special laws for banking, but these were not as intrusive as central banking or as far-reaching as the heavy regulation present today. (See Dowd 1993 for details on all of these. See Selgin 1988 for other examples of free banking.
