And the weaknesses always, and only, ever seem to come down to one's examples in my opinion. If credit unions work the same way as banks then they are not the good example I thought they might be when looking for something people might be familiar with. Not a flaw in the argument.

I was interested in Merrill Lynch's contention that most banks only ever lend between 1 and 1.5 times what they have on deposit though. Those who claim banks do not create money always seem to claim that they balance exactly.

Incidentally, whilst I cannot lay my hands on the document, the current Governor agrees with me (he made a speech to that effect about a year before he became Governor at some conference of central bankers in America somewhere).