Modern governments claim a monopoly over the creation of cash, and this is often said to be the wellspring of their economic power. But the state’s grip on the money supply is weaker than it seems. In the UK, notes and coins adorned with images of the Queen’s head may be the most visible instruments of economic exchange, but they comprise less than a 20th of the money supply. Much of the rest consists of bank deposits – in effect, private debts that financial institutions owe their customers. These deposits function like money; they can be transferred from person to person with the flick of a pen, the wave of a card or even a mobile phone. Yet they are created by private contracts between citizens, not by government fiat.
現代政府壟斷了創造現金的權利，這常被稱為是它們經濟權力的來源。但政府對貨幣供應的控制不如表面上那么強。在英國，印刻有女王頭像的紙幣和硬幣或許是最看得見的經濟交易媒介，但它們只占貨幣供應量的不到二十分之一。其余的貨幣供應主要由銀行存款組成——實際上，這是金融機構欠客戶的私人債務。存款起到貨幣的作用，只需筆一揮、卡一刷，甚至用手機操作，它便能從一個人的戶頭轉移到另一個人的戶頭。但存款是由公民之間的私人合同創造出來的，不是政府法令創造出來的。