Bank Failures in Theory and History: The Great Depression and Other "Contagious" Events / Charles W. Calomiris.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Calomiris, Charles W.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w13597.

NBER working paper series no. w13597

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Bank Failures in Theory and History

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2007.

Summary:

Bank failures during banking crises, in theory, can result either from unwarranted depositor withdrawals during events characterized by contagion or panic, or as the result of fundamental bank insolvency. Various views of contagion are described and compared to historical evidence from banking crises, with special emphasis on the U.S. experience during and prior to the Great Depression. Panics or "contagion" played a small role in bank failure, during or before the Great Depression-era distress. Ironically, the government safety net, which was designed to forestall the (overestimated) risks of contagion, seems to have become the primary source of systemic instability in banking in the current era.

Notes:

Print version record

November 2007.