In the United States and United Kingdom, it happened that banknotes issued by private banks were traded at a lower value than was printed on them. The advantage of government issue is that government banknotes are usually considered to be completely safe. This is the main reason why the government, via the central bank, is granted a monopoly on issuing banknotes. Quite simply, it has turned out to be easier for central banks, which are run in the national interest, by what is also best for society in the long term, to build the required confidence than it is for private companies that have profit motives. Substantial costs arise if confidence in the value of money disappears Right up until modern times, the value of banknotes and coins was linked to the value of a precious metal, such as silver or gold. But this link could be problematic as it meant that the supply of money was determined by access to precious metals and not by activity in the economy. 7 When production increased at the same time as the money supply was fixed, deflationary pressures arose. The bestknown example of this is the depression of the 1930s, when the restrictions under the gold standard led to serious deflation. Research has revealed the existence of a relationship between how quickly a land chose to abandon the gold standard and how quickly its economy started to recover.
José De Gregorio: The world economy, foreign exchange tensions, and recent monetary policy making in Chile Keynote address by Mr José De Gregorio, Governor of the Central Bank of Chile, at the Monetary Club of Universidad Finis Terrae, Santiago, 20 May 2011. *  *  *  Abstract This presentation discusses risks and tensions that have emerged in the global economy due to the ongoing process of world economic recovery and its implications on the Chilean economy. It reviews the decoupling of emerging economies from developed ones in terms of growth, the difficulties endured by developed economies to boost their feeble recovery, Europe’s public debt issues, the high commodity prices and symptoms of overheating in some emerging markets. This scenario has pushed emerging economies’ exchange rates to their lowest levels of the past decade. It stands out that, although an important step to change the composition of world demand, it has created tensions and in some cases has prompted the adoption of policies to mitigate exchange rate adjustments. Capital inflows have added pressure to the exchange rate discussion in some emerging economies and might favor an unhealthy increase in lending and incubate financial fragilities. Chile’s last forex intervention is mentioned. The differences in capital flows between Chile and other countries and episodes of substantial flows into emerging economies are described, emphasizing that large capital outflows from Chile have created a negative net balance.