On Mon, 18 Mar 2002 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

>http://econwpa.wustl.edu/eprints/mac/papers/0203/0203005.abs
>
>would be interested in any feedback. due to the contents, am also
>attempting to maximize its exposure, please help me spread the word.

Somehow I can't escape the feeling that you're taking the parasite analogy
a bit too seriously. Especially in the context of fractional-reserve
banking -- the problems I see with that system boil down to:

 -government licencing of banking operations, limiting competition and
  efficiency
 -the shedding of risks to central banks or inadequate knowledge of the
  risks on behalf of the depositors, inviting malinvestment
 -inadequate propagation of information on actual risks when loans are
  reinvested as deposits, again a cause for malinvestment

If depositors are fully aware of the risks they're taking, and actually
have to carry them, I see no reason why deposits couldn't be seen as a
straight-forward extension of other means of investment. In such
conditions, I'd say fractional-reserve free banking is *quite* possible,
and certainly shouldn't be equated with parasitism. Rather, it seems more
like an eminently usable hybrid of private investment and insurance.

Sampo Syreeni, aka decoy - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED], tel:+358-50-5756111
student/math+cs/helsinki university, http://www.iki.fi/~decoy/front
openpgp: 050985C2/025E D175 ABE5 027C 9494 EEB0 E090 8BA9 0509 85C2

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