QUESTION: Hi Martin,
Yesterday the Swedish Riksbank Chairman Stefan Ingves went on prime time TV expressing fear that public authorities are losing control over the Swedish currency! He also on prime time TV asked rhetorically -We have asked our self what is money?! Can you believe that!?
What the heck is going on? The Chairman of the WORLDS OLDEST CENTRAL BANK goes on prime time TV expressing fear for the public to lose confidence in the Swedish KRONA! Also saying that private companies are taking control over the currency and that cryptocurrencies are a threat.
I know the Swedish Krona is a small currency but one of the oldest still alive today. What does Socrates say about the Swedish Krona?
Stefan Ingves also yesterday published a long article in Dagens Nyheter, a national magazine expressing the same fear. A large finance paper published an article yesterday about this issue. Here is the link.
ANSWER: Sweden is the oldest Central Bank. That is where it all began. The first true banknotes for circulation appeared in Sweden, and these were actually used by the government to support its wars with Germany. In 1661, the government established a 30-year monopoly for its Stockholm Banco to issue these banknotes known as “letters of credit” that were to be payable in Swedish copper plate money that was extremely heavy weighing almost 15 kilos. It was not very practical for actual circulation. However, this practice was abused and ended up supporting the king. This led to the first banking panic in 1663 when there were more obligations than money to now redeem the notes. The bank was forced to close in 1664.…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
