A New Banking System

What if Boston’s real estate could furnish $300 million in loans—and Massachusetts’s $750 million? Lysander Spooner argues that this vast capital is already there, lying idle.

Writing in the early 1870s, as Boston faced the need to rebuild its burnt district, Spooner takes aim at a banking system he believes keeps credit scarce and business in the hands of monopolies. His alternative turns property—especially mortgages—into the backing for a new currency, one he says could be as reliable as gold while opening loans to workers, merchants, and ambitious enterprises. The proposal is bold: put the wealth beneath people’s feet to work, lower interest, and let industry grow without inflating prices. Can land itself become the capital that rebuilds a city—and changes who gets to borrow?

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