The Note Issue Paradox in the Free Banking Era
针对自由银行和国家银行时代长期未解的银行券发行悖论，本文提出新解释：虽然发行银行券有利可图，但因法律和制度限制，银行通过创造存款来放贷的边际利润更高，从而解释了为何银行未充分利用券发行获利机会。
In recent years a number of papers have appeared offering explanations of the long-noted, long-unresolved note issue paradox in both the free and national banking eras. Some have argued that previous profit calculations overstate the true cost of note issue because they fail to account for risks and costs that are not easily modeled. Others have argued that profit calculations are reasonably accurate and demonstrate that the bankers acted irrationally in failing to reap easily gathered profits. Yet another approach radically modified the basis of the calculation and found potential profits to be quite small. This note offers an explanation overlooked by most previous studies: that although note issue was profitable, a more profitable avenue existed. Because of legal and institutional restrictions, banks found it more profitable at the margin to create deposits rather than issue notes in extending credit.