A New Banking System

Spooner, Lysander, 1808-1887Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 101K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A New Banking System by Lysander SpoonerAuthor: Spooner, Lysander, 1808-1887,Language: English, Class: HG: Social sciences: Finance, Release Date: Nov 1, 2010

Editor's review

This book is a treatise by the 19th-century American thinker Lysander Spooner on money and the banking system, a classic text in political economy and financial history. From a laissez-faire standpoint, Spooner criticizes the privileges and monopolies of the banking system of his time and argues for a freer, more competitive banking arrangement. The argument is marked by the polemical spirit of its era and is dense with logical reasoning, making it suitable as primary material for understanding 19th-century American financial debates and libertarian economic thought. Its value lies not in offering workable contemporary financial solutions but in observing how a radical market-based monetary conception was proposed and defended. Readers interested in financial history, the history of economic thought, or political philosophy may read it alongside contemporary banking-reform texts; general readers will need some patience. The electronic edition is published by Project Gutenberg, making it easy to search and cite.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students of 19th-century American financial history and the history of economic thought
Readers interested in libertarian political economy
Readers in finance or history who need primary sources to support academic writing
Deep readers seeking to understand the origins of debates over monetary and banking systems

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for contemporary personal finance or investment how-to methods
Beginners without a foundation in economics who expect light, accessible reading
Learners who need a systematic textbook-style framework of financial knowledge

Reading tips

Read the introduction or opening chapter first to grasp Spooner's core arguments and whom he is arguing against, then proceed to the main text.
Prepare background material on 19th-century American banking history and compare it with the institutional realities of the time as you read.
Treat the book's arguments as a historical text rather than a policy proposal, and distinguish between the context of its era and any universal conclusions.
Excerpt key argumentative passages and compare them with the views of contemporary or later free-banking schools.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background in economics?

Not really. The argument centers on 19th-century banking institutions and monetary theory and assumes some familiarity with financial history and economic concepts. Readers with no background may lose the thread in the dense argumentation; it is advisable to first acquire introductory knowledge of American banking history and the history of economic thought.

What core argument does Spooner make in this book?

According to the available information, the book is titled A New Banking System and is a work on finance. Spooner discusses banking institutions from a laissez-faire standpoint and argues for reducing or abolishing privileges and monopolies in banking. The specific argument requires reading the original text; it is best understood against the background of 19th-century American free-banking debates.

What are the features of this edition?

This edition is published by Project Gutenberg as a free e-book, easy to download, search, and cite. The text is in the original English and suits researchers who need the original. It contains no modern scholarly annotations or introduction, so readers who need background explanation should consult relevant research literature themselves.

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About the author

Spooner, Lysander, 1808-1887 Author

Lysander Spooner (1808–1887) was a nineteenth-century American political thinker and writer. Public information on the details of his life is limited, and his writings center on law, the Constitution, and political institutions. Seven of his works are included here, among them An Essay on the Trial by Jury, No Treason, Vol. VI: The Constitution of No Authority, The Unconstitutionality of Slavery, A New Banking System, A Letter to Grover Cleveland, and A Letter to Thomas F. Bayard. These works show a style that combines legal argument with forceful polemic. His subjects range from the jury system and the constitutionality of slavery to banking and currency, and to a questioning of state and constitutional authority. His ideas are often cited in later libertarian and constitutional debates.