What is striking here is that many of these countries have undergone similar developments and are facing comparable challenges with respect to their cash cycle. However, differences and national particularities are also visible in the book – not least across continents and cultures. What all G20 central banks have in common are the new challenges they will face as payments go increasingly digital.
The main perpetrators of the failed scheme, F. Augustus Heinze and C.F. Morse, had extensive connections with a number of leading financial institutions in New York City. When the news of the failed speculation broke, depositor fears about the health of those institutions led to a series of runs on banks, including a bank at which Heinze served as president.