The Oxford Handbook of Banking and Financial History

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Financial Crises ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Financial History ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Historical Reflection ◽  
Methodological Aspects

The financial crisis of 2008 aroused widespread interest in banking and financial history among policy makers, academics, journalists, and even bankers, in addition to the wider public. References in the press to the term ‘Great Depression’ spiked after the failure of Lehman Brothers in November 2008, with similar surges in references to ‘economic history’ at various times during the financial turbulence. In an attempt to better understand the magnitude of the shock, there was a demand for historical parallels. How severe was the financial crash? Was it, in fact, the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression? Were its causes unique or part of a well-known historical pattern? And have financial crises always led to severe depressions? Historical reflection on the recent financial crises and the long-term development of the financial system go hand in hand. This volume provides the material for such a reflection by presenting the state of the art in banking and financial history. Nineteen highly regarded experts present twenty-one chapters on the economic and financial side of banking and financial activities, primarily—though not solely—in advanced economies, in a long-term comparative perspective. In addition to paying attention to general issues, not least those related to theoretical and methodological aspects of the discipline, the volume approaches the banking and financial world from four distinct but interrelated angles: financial institutions, financial markets, financial regulation, and financial crises.

The Memory of Financial Crises

2021 ◽  
pp. 18-38
Author(s):  
Youssef Cassis ◽  
Anna Knaps
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Financial Crises ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Preliminary Attempt ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis

Are financial crises actually remembered—and if so, how and by whom? Surprisingly, there has hardly been any attempt to answer this question, whether by economists or historians or indeed other social scientists. And yet they are extremely important questions to address, if we want to understand not only the causes and consequences of financial crises, but more generally how the modern financial system has been shaped. This chapter is a preliminary attempt to answer these questions. This will be done in two steps: first by considering the notion of memory and the extent to which it can be used to in connection with financial crises; and second by providing some evidence, mostly drawn from the press, on the memory of the financial crises of the Great Depression, especially in connection with the Global Financial Crisis of 2008.

General Introduction

2016 ◽  
pp. xviii-14
Author(s):  
Youssef Cassis ◽  
Richard S. Grossman ◽  
Catherine R. Schenk
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
The United States ◽  
General Introduction ◽  
Financial History ◽  
Advanced Economies ◽  
Methodological Aspects ◽  
Post Industrial

This chapter provides a general introduction to the volume, whose objective is to present the state-of-the-art in banking and financial history. Financial history is of long standing, but it has gained even prominence since the mid-1970s—because of the huge development and transformation of the financial world, increasing financial instability, and more generally the growing role of financial services in ‘post-industrial’ societies. The volume concentrates on the economic and financial side of banking and financial activities, primarily though not solely in advanced economies (Western Europe, the United States, and Japan), in a long-term (from mid-nineteenth century to the present) comparative perspective. In addition to paying attention to general issues, not least those related to theoretical and methodological aspects of the discipline, the volume approaches the banking and financial world from four distinct but interrelated angles: financial institutions, financial markets, financial regulation, and financial crises.

scholarly journals Crises and The Development of Economic Institutions: Some Microeconomic Evidence

2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (5) ◽  
pp. 524-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghuram Rajan ◽  
Rodney Ramcharan
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Financial Crises ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Banking System ◽  
Financial Instability ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Banking Markets ◽  
Bank Branching

This paper studies the long run effects of financial crises using new bank and town level data from around the Great Depression. We find evidence that banking markets became much more concentrated in areas that experienced a greater initial collapse in the local banking system. There is also evidence that financial regulation after the Great Depression, and in particular limits on bank branching, may have helped to render the effects of the initial collapse persistent. All of this suggests a reason why post-crisis financial regulation, while potentially reducing financial instability, might also have longer run real consequences.

scholarly journals From Material to Non-Material Needs? The Evolution of Mate Preferences through the Twentieth Century in France

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Quentin Lippmann
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Demographic Changes ◽  
French Society ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Economic Boom ◽  
Economic Criteria

This paper studies the evolution of mate preferences throughout the twentieth century in France. I digitized all the matrimonial ads published in France’s best-selling monthly magazine from 1928 to 1994. Using dictionary-based methods, I show that mate preferences were mostly stable during the Great Depression, WWII, and the ensuing economic boom. These preferences started transforming in the late 1960s when economic criteria were progressively replaced by personality criteria. The timing coincides with profound family and demographic changes in French society. These findings suggest that, in the search for a long-term partner, non-material needs have replaced material ones.

To Raise the Golden Anchor? Financial Crises and Uncertainty During the Great Depression

1999 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 624-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Peter Ferderer ◽  
David A. Zalewski
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Interest Rate ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Gold Standard ◽  
Financial Crises ◽  
Capital Flight ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Interest Rate Volatility

This study examines the interplay between financial crises, uncertainty, and economic growth during the interwar period. Comparing the experiences of ten countries, we provide evidence that reductions in the credibility of a country's commitment to the gold standard generated capital flight and higher interest rate volatility. This volatility, in turn, was inversely correlated with economic growth. These results suggest that financial crises helped propagate the Great Depression, in part, by increasing uncertainty.

scholarly journals The Global Financial Crisis

2019 ◽  
pp. 94-112
Author(s):  
Edward Fieldhouse ◽  
Jane Green ◽  
Geoffrey Evans ◽  
Jonathan Mellon ◽  
Christopher Prosser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Financial Crisis ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
British Politics ◽  
Voting Behaviour ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Economic Vote ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Economic Competence

The Global Financial Crisis, which began in 2007–8, was the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and acted as a large shock to British politics. The economic vote is usually thought about as a short-term mechanism: a reward or punishment for the incumbent depending on recent economic conditions. In this chapter we examine how this shock played a role in the outcome of the 2015 General Election, seven years after the crisis began. The Global Financial Crisis continued to affect voting behaviour in 2015 for two reasons: first, it did long-lasting damage to perceptions of Labour’s economic competence, and second, it created a political opportunity for the Conservatives to blame the previous Labour government for the aftermath of the financial crisis.

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