[fauigerzigerk]

>but I _think_ what I've learned recently is that in the UK it isn't actually fractional reserve banking, which I was surprised by.

The BoE doesn't currently impose a mandatory reserve requirement. They do have more general liquidity requirements though (central bank reserves being one possible source of liquidity). I would still see it as a fractional reserve banking system, especially as these minor differences don't matter for the question of how money is created.

[davejohnclark]

Yeah I think that's a fair shout, the main element being that private banks create the money via loans. Thanks for engaging, I appreciate the discussion. One day I might grok how modern economies hang together, but I've a way to go yet.