Banking Panics of the Gilded Age (Studies in Macroeconomic History)

This is the first major study of post-Civil War banking panics in almost a century. The author has constructed for the first time estimates of bank closures and their incidence in each of the five separate banking disturbances. The author also reevaluates the role of the New York Clearing House in forestalling several panics and explains why it failed to do so in 1893 and 1907, concluding that structural defects of the National Banking Act were not the primary cause of the panics. Preface The Bank Panic Experience: An Overview Bank Suspension Estimates Suspension of Cash Payment The Response of the New York Clearing House Summary The Banking Panic of 1873 Bank Suspension Estimates Banking Panic Narrative The Panic's Impact: The Financial Effects The Panic's Impact: The Real Effects The Response of the New York Clearing House Two Incipient Banking Panics of 1884 and 1890: An Unheralded Success Story Bank Suspension Estimates A Narrative of the Banking Disturbance Was There a Banking Panic? The Bankign Disturbance of 1890 Did the Two Incipient Banking Panics Have Significant Economic Effects? Brief Review of Findings The Banking Panic of 1893 Profile of Bank Suspensions During the Panic The Stock Market Collapse and Banking Unrest in May The Banking Panic in June The Bnaking Panic in July Partial Suspension, the Currency Premium, and the Gold Inflow Summary and Conclusions The Trust Company Panic of 1907 Bank Suspensions and Their Geographical Distribution Bank Panic Narrative Role of the U.S. Treasury and Gold Imports Hoarding Behavior of Reserves, Loans, and Deposits of NYCH Banks and Trust Companies Real Effects of the 1907 Panic Institutional Failure Summary and Conclusions Were Panics of the National Banking Era Preventable? The Behavior of Reserves of the NYCH Banks Instruments of Clearing House Policy Reserve Availability and Fixed Reserve/Deposit Ratios The Coe Report: A Clearing House Plan to Prevent Panics Sprague on the Treatment of Banking Panics Supplementary Sources of Reserves: Gold Imports and U.S. Treasury Assistance Apologia for Clearing House Bank Inaction Summary Epilogue Similarities and Differences Among Panics Contrast with Panics of the Great Depression The Origin of Banking Panics Banking Panics and Banking Reforms None None None This was the first major study of post-Civil War banking panics in almost a century. The author has constructed estimates of bank closures and their incidence in each of the five separate banking disturbances. The book takes a novel approach by reconstructing the course of banking panics in the interior, where suspension of cash payment, not bank closures, was the primary effect of banking panics on the average person. The author also re-evaluates the role of the New York Clearing House in forestalling several panics and explains why it failed to do so in 1893 and 1907, concluding that structural defects of the National Banking Act were not the primary cause of the panics "The author has constructed for the first time estimates of bank closures and their incidence in each of the five separate banking disturbances. The book takes a novel approach by reconstructing the course of banking panics in the interior, where suspension of cash payment, not bank closures, was the primary effect of banking panics on the average person. The author also reevaluates the role of the New York Clearing House in forestalling several panics and explains why it failed to do so in 1893 and 1907, concluding that structural defects of the National Banking Act were not the primary cause of the panics."--Jacket Before we undertake a comprehensive narrative and analysis of the three major and two incipient banking panics of the national banking era, it may prove useful to provide a broad overview of the bank panic experience.

This is the first major study of post-Civil War banking panics in almost a century.