Hamilton v. Jefferson: The Central Bank Debate [POLICYbrief]

In 1791, two great minds clashed over an issue of constitutional and historical significance. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson tried to make the case to President George Washington for and against having a national, central bank. Hamilton saw the central bank as the key to America’s economic future, whereas Jefferson worried about the consolidation of power and thought a central bank was unconstitutional. In this episode of POLICYbrief, two experts–David Cowen, President/CEO of the Museum of American Finance, and Thomas J. DiLorenzo, Professor of Economics at Loyola University–explain and analyze this 200-year-old debate that still has relevance today.

As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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Learn more about David Cowen
https://www.moaf.org/about/people/cowen_david

Alexander Hamilton on Finance, Credit, and Debt

Learn more about Thomas J. DiLorenzo:
https://www.loyola.edu/sellinger-business/academics/departments/economics/faculty/dilorenzo

Hamilton’s Curse

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Related Links:

[Founders Online] To George Washington from Thomas Jefferson, 15 February 1791
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-07-02-0207

[PBS] Establishing a National Bank
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/establishing-national-bank/

[Federal Reserve History] The First Bank of the United States
https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/first_bank_of_the_us

[Constitution Center] Hamilton’s Treasury Department and a great Constitutional debate
https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/hamiltons-treasury-department-and-a-great-constitutional-debate

[History] Whose Vision of America Won Out—Hamilton’s or Jefferson’s?
https://www.history.com/news/whose-vision-of-america-won-out-hamiltons-or-jeffersons

[Mises] The Corrupt Origins of Central Banking
https://mises.org/library/corrupt-origins-central-banking

[Federal Reserve] America’s Central Bank: The History and Structure of the Federal Reserve
https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20170328a.htm

[Oyez] McCulloch v. Maryland
https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/17us316

[Cato] Money and Banking: A Constitutional Perspective
https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/serials/files/cato-journal/2015/5/cj-v35n2-2.pdf

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