The Reason for the First Central Bank
December 13, 2006
Commenting on the creation of the Bank of the United States due to the efforts of Alexander Hamilton, Claude G. Bowers wrote in Jefferson and Hamilton: The Struggle for Democracy in America (pp. 186-187):
“Men [in Congress] who had voted to create the Bank had been made members of the board of directors. The ne’er-do-wells of yesterday were riding in coaches and building pretentious houses. Hamilton was urging bounties or protective duties for manufacturers . . . . Not a few . . . believed he was profiting through governmental measures.”
The “bounties” would be paid for with tax dollars, of course, which is why Hamilton also championed excise taxation and protective tariffs.
Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo [send him mail] is a former professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland and a longtime member of the senior faculty of the Mises Institute. He is the author or co-author of eighteen books including The Real Lincoln; How Capitalism Saved America; Lincoln Unmasked; Hamilton's Curse; Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government; The Problem with Socialism; and The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Economics.
Killing the Old Folks at Home