This book provides a comparative analysis of the several types of banking structure and the ways in which banks undertake their business. It surveys central banking arrangements in a number of countries. Against an historical background, it describes banking systems ranging from the so-called ‘unit banking’ of the USA to the branch banking arrangements that derive from British experience, as well as many systems in between. The business of banking is analysed comparatively within the framework of a simplified bank balance sheet, special attention being given to industrial banking and to assets and liabilities management. It explores how money markets function and, within this framework, how central banks operate and attempt to implement monetary and credit policy. The book includes the results of extensive new research, part of which involved interviewing many key figures throughout the banking industry.

This book provides a comparative analysis of the several types of banking structure and the ways in which banks undertake their business. It surveys central banking arrangements in a number of countries. Against an historical background, it describes banking systems ranging from the so-called ‘unit banking’ of the USA to the branch banking arrangements that derive from British experience, as well as many systems in between. The business of banking is analysed comparatively within the framework of a simplified bank balance sheet, special attention being given to industrial banking and to assets and liabilities management. It explores how money markets function and, within this framework, how central banks operate and attempt to implement monetary and credit policy. The book includes the results of extensive new research, part of which involved interviewing many key figures throughout the banking industry.

Provides an in-depth overview of the Federal Reserve System, including information about monetary policy and the economy, the Federal Reserve in the international sphere, supervision and regulation, consumer and community affairs and services offered by Reserve Banks. Contains several appendixes, including a brief explanation of Federal Reserve regulations, a glossary of terms, and a list of additional publications.

This book provides a comparative analysis of the several types of banking structure and the ways in which banks undertake their business. It surveys central banking arrangements in a number of countries. Against an historical background, it describes banking systems ranging from the so-called 'unit banking' of the USA to the branch banking arrangements that derive from British experience, as well as many systems in between. The business of banking is analysed comparatively within the framework of a simplified bank balance sheet, special attention being given to industrial banking and to assets and liabilities management. It explores how money markets function and, within this framework, how central banks operate and attempt to implement monetary and credit policy. The book includes the results of extensive new research, part of which involved interviewing many key figures throughout the banking industry.

The Tokyo market has often been a difficult financial environment for the non-Japanese to understand. This volume, written for an international readership provides a study of the financial centre behind one of the world’s largest economies.

Why stable banking systems are so rare Why are banking systems unstable in so many countries—but not in others? The United States has had twelve systemic banking crises since 1840, while Canada has had none. The banking systems of Mexico and Brazil have not only been crisis prone but have provided miniscule amounts of credit to business enterprises and households. Analyzing the political and banking history of the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil through several centuries, Fragile by Design demonstrates that chronic banking crises and scarce credit are not accidents. Calomiris and Haber combine political history and economics to examine how coalitions of politicians, bankers, and other interest groups form, why they endure, and how they generate policies that determine who gets to be a banker, who has access to credit, and who pays for bank bailouts and rescues. Fragile by Design is a revealing exploration of the ways that politics inevitably intrudes into bank regulation.

This is a clear guide to the German financial system. It begins by outlining its historical development, emphasising the growth of close ties between the banking system and industry, and goes on to describe in details the nature of the credit institutions in general and the money and capital markets. The book emphasizes the crucial role played by the autonomy of the Bundesbank and it explains with clear illustrations the instruments available to it to conduct monetary policy. It analyses the type of monetary target adopted by the Bundesbank in the early 1970s and deals with the ‘transferability’ of the West German financial system to other countries. Wherever relevant, parallels and differences between that system and the ones operating in the US and UK are pointed out.

As economic advisor to the Bank of England for many years, C. A. E. Goodhart is uniquely positioned to assess the role of the central bank in the modern financial system. This book brings together twenty-one of his previously published articles dealing with the changing functions of central banks over time, recent efforts to maintain price stability, and debates over specific financial regulation proposals in the UK. Although the current day-to-day operations of central banks are subject to continuous comment and frequent criticism, their structural role within the economic system as a whole has generally been accepted without much question, despite several attempts by economists in recent decades to challenge the value of the institution. C. A. E. Goodhart brings his knowledge of both the theoretical arguments and the actual working of central banks to bear in these essays. Part I looks at the general purposes and functions of central banks within the financial system and their evolution over time. Part II concentrates on the current objectives and operations of central banks, and the maintenance of price stability in particular. Part III analyzes the broader issues of financial regulation.

This book examines the fundamental nature of banking in the economy of the 1970s and 80s, arguing that banking cannot be properly understood unless it is regarded as the retailing of financial services. In analysing the nature of banking the book demonstrates how banking might operate without regulatory constraints; surveys the patterns of regulatory constraint in a wide range of economies; analysis the effects of these various forms of constraint on the operation of a previously unregulated bank; examines the move to multinational banking; explores risks peculiar to multinational banking, whilst providing a diagrammatic illustration of those risks. When originally published this was one of the first books to treat banking from both a theoretical and empirical perspective and is unique in reviewing the case of a completely unregulated commercial bank and following the progression of banking through to the multinational stage.