A second device, now so legitimized that any country lacking it is considered hopelessly 'backward,' is the central bank. The central bank, while often nominally owned by private individuals or banks, is run directly by the national government. Its purpose, not always stated explicitly, is to remove the competitive check on bank credit provided by a multiplicity of independent banks. Its aim is to make sure that all the banks in the country are coordinated and will therefore expand or contract together - at the will of the government.
 

– Murray Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State [1962]