goldsmiths realized they had a great deal of unused gold lying in their

vaults doing nothing. This development was actually of greater importance

than the first.

Now let's turn to the first bank loan ever and see what happened. A

firm asked a goldsmith for a loan. The goldsmith realized that some of the

gold in his vault could be lent to the firm, and of course he asked the

firm to pay it back later with a little interest. Of course, at that moment

the goldsmith was short of gold, it wasn't actually his gold, but he

reckoned it was unlikely that everyone who had deposited gold with him

would want it back at the same time, at any rate - not before the firm had

repaid him his gold with a little interest. He thought it safe enough.

To understand what actually happened in this simple transaction let's

consider the following table.

Таbl. 6. Goldsmiths as bankers

| |Assets |Liabilities |

|1. Old-fashioned |Gold $100 |Deposits $100 |

|goldsmith |Gold $90 + loan 10 |Deposits $100 |

|2. Gold lender |Gold $l00 + loan $10 |Deposits $110 |

|3. Deposit lender Step 1 |Gold $90+loan $10 |Deposits $100 |

| | | |

|4. Deposit lender Step 2 | | |

The first row shows what the goldsmith did before he made this loan-

He had a hundred dollars of gold, which he owed to the people who had

deposited it with him, so his assets and liabilities were the same. But

when he lent, say, $10 of gold to the firm, he actually had only $90 of

gold in his vault plus the value of his loan. His assets still equalled his

liabilities, but he was going to get some interest

It so happened that the firm, that took out the loan, didn't really

want to carry that $10 of gold around, so It asked me goldsmith if, instead

of actually taking the gold, it could be given a deposit. The third row of

Tabl. 6 shows what happened then. Although the goldsmith's assets and

liabilities were the same, but were then worth $110, not $100. When the

firm wrote a cheque for $10, and that person came in to collect his $10

worth of gold, the goldsmith's assets failed, but so did his liabilities

(the fourth row of the table). The important point to notice here is that

it made no difference to the goldsmith whether his initial loan was in

actual gold or in a form of a deposit.

Now let's turn to the question of reserves. Reserves are the amount of

gold that is immediately available in the vault to meet depositors'

demands. People originally deposited $100 of gold with the goldsmith. The

goldsmith lent $10, leaving himself with $90. As a banker he was relying on

the fact that not everyone would want their gold back at the same time. If

they had done, be couldn't have paid out. His reserves of $90 were not

enough.

The goldsmith in the table has a 100% reserve ratio. The reserve ratio

is the ratio of reserves to deposits. Once he has made his loan, he has a

90% deposit ratio. This is a small risk with a small profit. How much dare

he lend out in order to make a profit through his interest charges? What

are the risks involved? Suppose the goldsmith took too much of a risk. He

lent 80% of the gold he had. This panicked people. They doubted he could

pay them all back, he was bound to lose some of the gold he had lent, so

they rushed to get their gold back before it was too late. That was what we

would now call a run on the bank, a financial panic. And the financial

panic leads to exactly what people fear: the bank cannot pay them, goes

bankrupt, and they go bankrupt as well.

VOCABULARY NOTES

rare - редкий

lines - штрафы

to measure their value accurately - точно измерить их стоимость

(ценность)

to divide into a wide range of amounts - разделить на много частей

(маленьких или больших)

precious metals - драгоценные металлы

gold bullion - золотой слиток

to deposit with - хранить, вкладывать

a goldsmith - золотых дел мастер

worked with gold for jewellery - делал золотые украшения

a guarded vault - охраняемый подвал, хранилищ:

to fetch - приносить, доставать

to transfer - переводить, передавать

once these letters or cheques,

became acceptable as a way of paying for goods - как только (когда) эти

письма, или чеки, стали приниматься при оплате

товаров

their money holdings- деньги, которые им принадлежали, которыми они

владели

a bank loan - банковская ссуда, заем

a little interest - небольшой процент

the goldsmith was short of gold - у мастера не было достаточно золота

to reckon - полагать, считать

at any rate - во всяком случае

a transaction - сделка

to owe - быть должным

assets and liabilities - активы и пассивы

the vа1uе of his loan - стоимость ссуды, которую он дал

to equal - равняться, быть равным

the firm didn't really want to саrry that gold around, so it asked the

goldsmith If, instead of actually taking the gold, it could be given a

deposit - фирма не хотела держать золото при себе (носить золото с собой) и

вместо того, чтобы на самом деле его забрать, попросила мастера принять это

золото на хранение в виде вклада

(they) were worth $110 - их стоимость составляла, они оценивались

(имели ценность) в 110 долларов

to write (syn. to draw, to issue, to make out) a cheque - выписать чек

his assets failed - зд. его активы снизились

to fail - (о банках) обанкротиться

initial loan - первоначальная ссуда

reserves - резервы

the amount of gold that is immediately available in the vault - запасы

(количество) золота, которое всегда находится (и может быть немедленно

получено) в хранилище банка

depositors' demands - требования вкладчиков

leaving himself with $90 -оставив себе только 90 долларов

to rely on - рассчитывать, надеяться на что-либо

the reserve ratio • резервная норма

dare - осмеливаться

to make a profit through his interest charges - получить прибыль за

счет платежа процентов

What are the risks involved? - Чем он рискует?

to panic (panicked) -пугать, приводить в панику

to doubt - сомневаться

he was bound to lose some of the gold - он непременно должен был

потерять часть золота

a run on the bank - натиск вкладчиков на банк

the financial panic - финансовая паника

to fear - опасаться, страшиться

to go bankrupt - обанкротиться

MODERN BANKING

(СОВРЕМЕННАЯ БАНКОВСКАЯ СИСТЕМА)

The goldsmith bankers were an early example of a financial

intermediary.

A financial intermediary is an institution that specializes in bringing

lenders and borrowers together.

A commercial bank borrows money from the public, crediting them with a

deposit. The deposit is a liability of the bank. It is money owed to

depositors. In turn the bank lends money to firms, households or

governments wishing to borrow.

Banks are not the only financial intermediaries. Insurance companies,

pension funds, and building societies also take in money in order to relend

it. The crucial feature of banks is that some of their liabilities are used

as a means of payment, and are therefore part of the money stock.

Commercial banks are financial intermediaries with a government licence

to make loans and issue deposits, including deposits against, which cheques

can be written.

Let's start by looking at the present-day UK banking system. Although

the details vary from country to country, the general principle is much the

same everywhere.

In the UK, the commercial banking system comprises about 600 registered

banks, the National Girobank operating through post offices, and a dozen

trustee saving banks. Much the most important single group is the London

clearing banks. The clearing banks are so named because they have a central

clearing house for handling payments by cheque.

A clearing system is a set of arrangements in which debts between banks

are settled by adding up all the transactions in a given period and paying

only the net amounts needed to balance inter-bank accounts.

Suppose you bank with Barclays but visit a supermarket that banks with

Lloyds. To pay for your shopping you write a cheque against your deposit at

Barclays. The supermarket pays this cheque into its account at Lloyds. In

turn, Lloyds presents the cheque to Barclays, which will credit Lloyds'

account at Barclays and debit your account at Barclays by an equivalent

amount. Because you purchased goods from a supermarket using a different

bank, a transfer of funds between the two banks is required. Crediting or

debiting one bank's account at another bank is the simplest way to achieve

this.

However on the same day someone else is probably writing a cheque on a

Lloyds' deposit account to pay for some stereo equipment from a shop

banking with Barclays. The stereo shop pays the cheque into its Barclays'

account, increasing its deposit. Barclays then pays the cheque into its

account at Lloyds where this person's account is simultaneously debited.

Now the transfer flows from Lloyds to Barclays.

Although in both cases the cheque writer's account is debited and the

cheque recipient's account is credited, it does not make sense for the two

banks to make two separate inter-bank transactions between themselves. The

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