History

Sveriges Riksbank, or the Riksbank as it is usually called, is the world’s oldest central bank. The Riksbank has a 350 year old history. This includes holding its own against Karl XII, financing the Age of Liberty war, appearing in the murder of Gustav III, competing with A.O. Wallenberg, being forced into the Kreuger affair, regulating the credit market during the first decades of the post-war period and playing the leading role in the 500 per cent defence of the krona. One financial crisis followed another. One can see some of the current discussions reflected in the talk of confidence during the 18th century or the crisis management of the 19th century.

 

Over time the Riksbank has encountered many of the problems that economists have sooner or later used in their theoretical work. Sometimes the Bank has failed, and sometimes the Bank has managed to resolve the problems surprisingly quickly.  Sometimes the Riksbank has learned from the experiences of other countries, and sometimes economic science has been able to guide the way - and nowadays the Bank's own history provides many lessons that can be learned.

 

You can read more about the history of the Riksbank by clicking on the links in the left-hand menu.

EXTERNAL LINKS
 
Order the book Money and power, link to the publishers, Atlantis

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CONTENT EXPERT
Picture on a letter General Secretariat

LAST REVIEWED
23/03/2009