Banca libre en Colombia: Dos textos, Lina Echeverry y Adolfo Meisel

Dentro de la iniciativa de Libertad Radical 1863, que busca rescatar las figuras y prácticas que hicieron realidad el liberalismo clásico en Colombia, especialmente en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, presentamos aquí dos textos, entre más de una decena que hemos encontrado al respecto, muy relevantes para estudiar el período de la banca libre. El primero es de Lina María Echeverri, que pertenece al libro Ensayos de historia monetaria y bancaria de Colombia, compilado por Fabio Sánchez Torres, Bogotá: Tecer Mundo, 1994. Sobre este texto transcribimos la introducción del editor del volumen:

El trabajo de Lina Echeverri se refiere al funcionamiento del sistema de banca libre en Colombia, que floreció entre los años 1865 y 1886. Al comienzo hace un recuento de lo que era el sistema monetario antes de la banca libre y de las circunstancias históricas que condujeron al desarrollo de ese sistema: en primer lugar, la expansión del comercio agrícola hizo que los comerciantes exportadores e importadores se dieran cuenta de la falta de fondos prestables y comenzaran a expandir sus actividades hacia algunas operaciones bancarias. A medida que las transacciones y el comercio aumentaron, los banqueros principiantes expandieron sus actividades financieras; al mismo tiempo, ampliaron sus líneas de crédito y comenzaron a hacer préstamos a agricultores y artesanos. En segundo lugar, la Constitución de Rionegro de 1863, de tendencia liberal tanto política corno económicamente, tuvo una enorme influencia en la organización del sistema bancario. Dentro del trabajo se dan algunos lineamientos y supuestos teóricos del funcionamiento de un sistema de banca libre, y dice que "es un sistema monetario en el cual los bancos privados, en forma competitiva y sin ser regulados por el gobierno, emiten pasivos a la vista, redimibles en una moneda mercancía no controlada por las autoridades". A lo largo del capítulo hace una serie de comparaciones con el sistema de banca libre que prevaleció en Escocia hacia finales del siglo XVIII, con el fin de expresar que no es tan difícil ni arriesgado un sistema de ese estilo y que si no hubiera sido por la necesidad del presidente Rafael Núñez de financiar sus problemas fiscales, la banca libre en Colombia habría alcanzado niveles de desarrollo bastante parecidos a los escoceses. Según la autora, la banca libre ayudó en buena medida al desarrollo y crecimiento de la economía colombiana, debido a que "(las sucursales de los bancos)... les trajeron beneficios económicos a las comunidades donde se localizaron ya que facilitaron las transacciones comerciales y de negocios y contribuyeron a financiar las primeras aventuras industriales en Colombia.

El segundo es de autoría de Adolfo Meisel, y es el capítulo 5 de The Experience of Free Banking. London and New York: Routledge. 1992, editado por Kevin Dowd. Unos fragmentos para antojar al lector:

Although the period under consideration (1871–1922) was characterized by the creation of banks, the number established in the era of free banking (1871–86) was larger than in subsequent subperiods (see Table 5.1).

From 1863 to 1886, the Colombian state was organized under a rather extreme federalist constitution, the Constitution of Rionegro, which adhered to the principles of Manchesterian liberalism. This constitution made each regional state—and Colombia had nine— responsible for the regulation of economic activity, including banking. A good example of the spirit of laissez-faire that predominated in Colombian legislation of the time is provided by the banking laws of the State of Bolívar. This legislation gave ample space to private initiative and permitted only a minimum of government intervention. As the basic banking law of the State of Bolívar declared in its first article, ‘The establishment of banks of issue, deposit, and discount and mortage banks is free in the state and their activity is only subject to those duties that the laws impose on commercial companies and merchants’.4 Equally there were no barriers to the entry into the banking business. No charters were necessary and there were no minimum capital requirements.

It is very important to stress that the government’s monopoly of note issue arose in 1886 from its desire to obtain resources through seigniorage. The pressing fiscal demands of the government led it to suspend the convertibility of its notes, and consequently to abolish, supposedly temporarily, the right of other banks to issue notes. The government’s note monopoly did not arise form any dissatisfaction with the way free banking had operated, and there had been no panics or abuses that had led people to question the principle of free banking.

Since the earlier experience with free banking (1871–86) had been reasonably successful but the later monopoly issue (1887–1909) had produced considerable instability, it was quite natural that most Colombian policymakers seemed to favour free banking. The tendency towards free banking is reflected in the fact that eleven out of eighteen banking reform bills presented to Congress in the period from 1911 to 1916 favoured some form of free banking (Ibañez 1990:176–7). However, one free banking sentiment began to dissipate towards the end of the decade. As a result of international influences Colombian policymakers started to favour the establishment of a single bank of issue. The examples of France, England and Germany were cited as cases where free banking had been abandoned, but perhaps the biggest impact was caused by the establishment of the Federal Reserve System in the USA in 1914 (Meisel 1988:100).

Model for a youth based free market Think tank

Model for a youth based free market Think tank

Dhruv Singal

The proposed Think Tank will be based on the Popularizer Model. Disseminating the ideas of civil liberties and free markets through University campuses, Engaging liberal-minded youth and building a community of active aficionados interested in collaborating and learning the philosophical and moral ideals behind private property rights, is envisioned.  The contemplated Think Tank will therefore serve a dual purpose, namely as an active popularizer seeking to increase awareness of issues concerning economic liberty, thus intending to direct public opinion away from the interventionist set of options, and also as a platform for young and motivated college students to take up the cause of liberty. Mainstream Issues of common interests will be taken up for maintaining rigor and enthusiasm among the participants. More importantly the imminent focus would pertain to issues on a local level, seeking to influence possibilities on a micro scale, while encouraging discussions on a wider and broader scale.

Since the operations will be rooted at a University, Public Education might be one of the foremost issues that can be taken up. Most of the universities are state funded, due to which  managements often struggle with stiff and volatile budgets and are heavily influenced by bureaucratic machinery on day to day matters, which reflects in lack of facilities and lower standards as compared to their counterparts. It is then no wonder that Public universities rank far behind private universities in world rankings. A similar condition is prevalent in the Schooling system. Support for more autonomy to educational centers will be garnered. One of the step in this direction would be to encourage debate on the regulations imposed by the Federal Government on Private Schools, which has affected the later adversely. Of utmost importance in the debate is reformation to the educational system characterized by a stale, rigid curriculum prescribed by bureaucrats which doesn’t reflect the need of the times.  

Public Health care is another issue that would be keenly taken up. Apart from the rising Insurance costs and jargon of regulations, terms and conditions that the individual has to tackle, the condition of public health care is depressing. Often it requires considerable time to receive care, and the facilities provided are poor. Popularizing ideas of reform related to existing heavy regulations by the Federal Government, is expected through the activities of the Think Tank.

Popularizer model has been chosen because evidently there is a vacuum in intellectual entrepreneurship championing for the ideas of economic liberty. Clearly inspiring people at grass root level, making them aware of political possibilities and implications of current policies is the first step to be taken up for this endeavor. No better way for achieving the same exists than inculcating values among the youth, which promote reasoning and freedom. Blogs, websites, periodicals, seminars, youth camps and reading clubs are significant mediums for this purpose.

On a long term perspective though, the project would be aimed at shaping itself into a Builder model, encouraging the creation of similar groups country wide in universities, assisting them for logistics and preparation of ground work for future activities. This is aimed to create an extensive network of liberty-oriented minds which connect to each other, share ideas and opinions while recreating in a student based domain. An organization that doesn’t “sell” liberty but rather creates a demand for the same, by nurturing individuals in all spheres, and consequently their individualism is what is required, and the project aims to fulfill this end.  

The Think tank operates primarily as a University group, involving interested individuals from all sections of the society. The organization provides platform to liberty-oriented students for expressing their views and opinions while also propagating values of individualism by generating an enthusiasm for liberty. University courses related to Business and Economics are popular among the youth and so is their disposition for gaining working experience before graduation. The organization therefore attracts such individuals by providing them working experience and an opportunity to learn more profoundly, the tenets of economics with direct reference to current state of public policy , industry and markets. Fulfilment of Economic literacy and awareness beyond the classroom environment would be one of the key selling points for the Organization, with regards to students as well as potential collaborators/donors. Newspapers with a bent towards classical liberalism will be approached, for collaboration. Since there is a lack of libertarian and free market oriented publications, the objective will be to operate a student run organization which publishes and disseminates material directly relevant to free market economics contrasted against the multifarious implications of interventionist policies on current day markets and society. Associations with existing organizations of repute like ‘The Students for Liberty’ will be sought for guidance.

The organization will primarily have to compete with other university groups. Other than that, University groups concerning various factions of the left, centrist and social democratic components of the political spectrum thrive within the universities. It then becomes even more evident why groups that promote Economic liberty are required to fill the void of individualistic ideas. Nonetheless, the deep rooted faith in Social democratic ideals and public welfare system among people confer an advantage to the former, and hence they would easily qualify as being ‘competitors’. What might then be advantageous to the interests of the proposed organization would be, it’s novelty, it’s ‘bent’ toward public policy research and it’s contributions in individual development.

Strengths: Good Networking skills, experience in Recruitment and ‘Talent Management’ at Organizations, experienced team members who share similar passion for liberty and a network among student intelligentsia.

Weaknesses: Little to no experience with Startups. Consequent low funding, and lack of resources. Difficulty in managing a team demotivated by prospects of not achieving a ‘break-through’.

Opportunities : Recent slowdown and increase in Unemployment, along with highlighted events such as Debt crisis has created a new wave of liberty enthusiasts who question interventionist policies and realize that a centrally planned economy regresses prosperity of society and the quality of life of the populace. Novelty – Having being obscured for centuries, classical liberal ideas seem to enjoy increased awareness, due to the apparent novelty of ideas involved. The organization therefore benefits from this situation.

Threats :  Clearly the most imminent threat would be the still widely prevalent faith in a Big government, itself. It might be difficult to gain attention of the obscure Free market enthusiast and to gain collaborations from the few Liberty oriented periodicals. At times, individuals belonging to the far right propound ideas, relevant to free market politics such as decentralization of banking system in lieu of their supposed anti-semitic views. This has tarnished the image of classical liberalism in recent past. Needless to say, distancing the organization from individuals who support any such ideologies would be a challenge.

What we shouldn’t be :
1)  A political outfit

2)  A profit making research oriented organization.

3)  An organization that supports or involves individuals who deny tenets of liberty for a group of   people or section of society.

4) A non-independent organization characterized by partisanship.

The proposed organization is intended to manage it’s daily operations by a group of highly motivated students. Regardless of that, initial operations might require the need of a professional organizational consultant for laying the legal and financial groundwork for a successful run in future. On a regular basis then, only an accountant as a paid professional would be required. Successful registration with the university would imply, that Rooms from the university building can be used for meet ups and planning. Nonetheless, with rising memberships a centralized office is envisioned. Other fixed costs are minimal.

Mission Statement : The student run think tank aims to establish ideas of free market in the society, instill values of individualism in the youth and initiate discussion on public policies in light of economic liberty by engaging interested students and individuals in the task of contemplating, discussing, and diffusing rational economic and moral principles for the betterment of industries, markets and society.