Fred, I think you are right. I do not say that "one could in general have unregulated banking" nor am I certain that there was a banking system ever existing which was 100 percent free. What I suggest is that there have been economists who strongly believe that the banking system can be unregulated and also that it can be sustainable without the existence of the central bank. Thus from the viewpoint of history of economic thought, it is not unimportant know how these economists justfy their positions and how they differentiated themselves from general economists who believe in economic liberalism but excluding a banking system saying that this field is an exception. It goes without saying that the historical reality of "free banking" era in Scotland, U.S., and Japan is an intriguing theme for economic historians. Yukihiro Ikeda