The structure of financial markets and the 'first principles' of monetary economics

Abstract

There has been a significant degree of financial restructuring over the last few decades, which has prompted a rethinking of the first principles of monetary economics. The focus here is on how four specifications of these principles address such issues as the need for central banks and the potential for separation of the monetary functions. The case is made for one approach, which suggests that the need to establish trustworthy credit relations, in an environment subject to fundamental uncertainty, is at the heart of monetary systems. It is argued that monetary history demonstrates that monetary standards and central banking have indeed tended to be the outcome of the competitive process in the financial sector.