The Value of MoneyAnderson, Benjamin M. (Benjamin McAlester)
General
The Value of Money
Anderson, Benjamin M. (Benjamin McAlester)
Money
It is clear that "total transactions" must, in a period of time,
_exceed_ Kinley's "deposits" very considerably. In a general way, what
goes out of a bank, and what comes into a bank, must approximately equal
one another in a period of time. In a general way, a depositor finds his
income and his outgo balancing. Of course, some accumulate, paying in
more than they withdrew, but in general such accounts are made with
savings banks. The business man borrows from his bank, getting a
"deposit credit" (without "depositing" in Kinley's sense), then checks
against his "deposit," then receives checks in payments to himself,
"deposits" them, building up his deposit balance again, and then checks
against his deposit balance, in favor of the bank, to pay off his loan.
What comes in and what goes out--abstracting from the growth of a
rapidly expanding bank--balance. But notice, in the case cited above,
that "total transactions" include more items than Kinley's "deposits"
show. When the bank makes a loan, and gives a deposit credit, this does
not, usually, show in Kinley's deposits. When, however, the loan is paid
off by a check to the bank, it does show in "total transactions."
Moreover, when a man deposits cash in the bank, it does not show in
Kinley's figures for checks deposited. When, however, he withdraws cash
from the bank, or his check to another is "cashed," it does appear in
"total transactions." Further, checks deposited to the credit of one
bank in another do not appear in Kinley's figures. Checks drawn,
however, by one bank on another do appear in total transactions. How
great the difference is between "total transactions" and "deposits" in
the banks outside New York we cannot say precisely. The cash items
alone, on the basis of Kinley's figures, would make a difference of
about 9%.[401] To allow 11% excess to "total transactions" over
"deposits" for the other reasons listed, is surely not to make an
exaggerated allowance. We thus count "deposits" in Kinley's sense, for
the banks outside New York City, as 80% of "total transactions." Since,
then, clearings are 40% of "total transactions," they will be 50% of
"deposits." This figure is more than twice as great as Professor
Fisher's figure of 22.8%. Even if we counted deposits as equalling total
transactions, Professor Fisher's estimate would be clearly very much too
low.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account