Lecture Title: "Central Bank Origin Stories"

Central banks are important economic institutions that initially appeared in the 17th century. Over time, they have evolved into the primary public-sector manager of macroeconomic conditions and banking crises. How and why were these new (at the time) types of monetary institutions originally created? Whose interests did they serve? This talk tells the origin stories of four Anglo-American central banks, three early central banks (the Bank of England, the First Bank of the U.S., and the Second Bank of the U.S.), and one latecomer, the Federal Reserve.

Jane Knodell has taught at UVM since 1986 and is currently the Mark J. Zwynenburg Green and Gold Professor of Financial History. In her teaching, she explores macroeconomics, money and banking, and financial history with her students. As a scholar, she is a monetary historian with a focus on the role of central banks during early industrialization. She is currently working on a manuscript with Prof. Catalina Vizcarra on the interconnected monetary histories of colonial South and North America. Jane has also served in a variety of administrative positions at UVM.