Modern governments claim a monopoly over the creation of cash, and this is often said to be the wellspring of their economic power. But the state’s grip on the money supply is weaker than it seems. In the UK, notes and coins adorned with images of the Queen’s head may be the most visible instruments of economic exchange, but they comprise less than a 20th of the money supply. Much of the rest consists of bank deposits – in effect, private debts that financial institutions owe their customers. These deposits function like money; they can be transferred from person to person with the flick of a pen, the wave of a card or even a mobile phone. Yet they are created by private contracts between citizens, not by government fiat.
现代政府垄断了创造现金的权利，这常被称为是它们manbetx20客户端下载 权力的来源。但政府对货币供应的控制不如表面上那么强。在英国，印刻有女王头像的纸币和硬币或许是最看得见的manbetx20客户端下载 交易媒介，但它们只占货币供应量的不到二十分之一。其余的货币供应主要由银行存款组成——实际上，这是金融机构欠客户的私人债务。存款起到货币的作用，只需笔一挥、卡一刷，甚至用手机操作，它便能从一个人的户头转移到另一个人的户头。但存款是由公民之间的私人合同创造出来的，不是政府法令创造出来的。