The Value of MoneyAnderson, Benjamin M. (Benjamin McAlester)
General
The Value of Money
Anderson, Benjamin M. (Benjamin McAlester)
Money
Evidence with reference to outside clearings, in connection with bank
transactions, we now have in very definite and abundant form, and it
will be convenient to approach the question of New York clearings,
first, indirectly, _via_ country clearings. We shall, therefore, take up
first the thesis that clearings outside New York do not undercount bank
deposits outside New York nearly as much as Professor Fisher thinks.
According to his estimate, checks deposited during the year in banks
outside New York (exclusive of checks deposited by one bank in another)
were 271 billions. (_Loc. cit._, 446.) Outside clearings were only 62
billions, and his conclusion is that the ratio of deposits to clearings
is 4.4 to 1, or, in other words, that outside clearings amount to less
than 22.8% of outside check deposits.
Now an extensive investigation, covering the period from June, 1913, to
Oct. 1914, inclusive, has been made by the American Bankers'
Association, through Mr. O. Howard Wolfe, Secretary of the Clearing
House Section. This investigation covered cities of various sizes, in
various parts of the country. Its results are immensely more trustworthy
than any results based on a single day, as Professor Fisher's results
are, could be, even had Professor Fisher's method been otherwise
correct. An account of this investigation is to be found in the
_Annalist_ of Dec. 7, 1914.[400] This investigation involves, for the
period in question, a comparison of "total bank transactions" in each
city with the clearings of that city, together with a summary covering
all the cities. "Total bank transactions" consist of all debits against
deposit liabilities of each member of the Clearing House, whether they
come through the Clearing House or over the counter. They include
payrolls, for example, which, of course, never get into clearings. They
include drafts on deposits of one bank in another. In a letter to the
Editor of the _Annalist_, Mr. Wolfe states that "total bank transactions
include all debits against deposit liabilities, whether by check, draft
or charge ticket. The only exceptions are certified checks and certain
cashier's checks, both of which to an extent represent a duplication."
For the period in question, clearings amounted, on the average, for all
cities, to 40% of "total transactions." The cities did not include New
York City, as stated.
Now we cannot apply this 40% at once to the question in hand. Professor
Fisher's 22.8% relates to the relation between clearings and checks and
drafts _deposited_, _excluding_ items deposited by banks, and excluding,
of course, cash deposited. What is the relation between Kinley's
"deposits" and Wolfe's "total transactions"?
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