Charles, Goodhart ; Donato, Masciandaro ; donato, masciandaro ; Stefano, Ugolini ; Stefano, Ugolini. (2022) Pandemic Recession And Helicopter Money: Venice, 1629-1631.
In: BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers. RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp22179.

Full description at Econpapers

The venality of offices was in part a device for public funding: the purchaser of the office paid a given amount (the principal) – or made a temporary loan posting a guarantee – while the government paid him a salary (the interest) (Pezzolo 2007, p. 8). The Bank was to be formally liquidated every three years (Dunbar 1892, p.321), in order to reduce the possibility of losses larger than the governor’s personal assets, while the private bankers were required to liquidate every six years (Roberds and Velde 2014, p.21). Moreover, the costs of the bank establishment were to be met by public resources – i.e. import taxes (Dunbar 1892, p.312). Summing up, the Banco di Rialto was a quasi-narrow bank, acting also as a clearing house, and governed through a public concession managed by a hybrid player, being the governor in charge, a mix between a public manager and a private banker.