British Currency School

The British Currency School was a group of British economists, active in the 1840s and 1850s, who argued that the excessive issuing of banknotes was a major cause of price inflation. They believed that, in order to restrict circulation, issuers of new banknotes should be required to hold an equivalent value of gold as a reserve. This concept was also known as convertibility and the currency principle. They argued that prices were mostly based on quantity of currency in circulation, although proponents did acknowledge that prices were also affected by deposits. Therefore, by controlling prices banks could limit outflow of gold.