Hamilton v. Jefferson: The Central Bank Debate [POLICYbrief]
Short video featuring David Cowen and Thomas DiLorenzo
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
https://www.amazon.com/Alexander-Hamilton-Finance-Credit-Debt/dp/0231184565
Learn more about Thomas J. DiLorenzo:
https://www.loyola.edu/sellinger-business/academics/departments/economics/faculty/dilorenzo
Hamilton's Curse
https://www.amazon.com/Hamiltons-Curse-Jeffersons-Revolution-Americans/dp/0307382850
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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
[Federalist Society] McCulloch v. Maryland
https://fedsoc.org/case/mcculloch-v-maryland
[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