The Banking Panics of the Great Depression

Review
"This book is an important contribution to our understanding of the interactions between the banking system and the course of the Great Depression, and it should inspire more detailed investigations of other banking crises to determine whether the lack of contagion was peculiar to the 1930's." John H. Wood, EH.NET BOOK REVIEW


Book Description
This is the first full-length study of five U.S. banking panics of the Great Depression. Professor Wicker reconstructs a close historical narrative of each of the disturbances, investigating their origins, magnitude and effects, and he reappraises the role of Federal Reserve officials in the panics. His findings challenge many of the commonly-held assumptions about the events of 1930 and 1931, and will be of wide interest to students of the Great Depression, monetary and financial historians, and economists.


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This is the first full-length study of five U.S. banking panics of the Great Depression. Previous studies of the Depression have approached the banking panics from a macroeconomic viewpoint; Professor Wicker fills a lacuna in current knowledge by reconstructing a close historical narrative of each of the panics, investigating their origins, magnitude, and effects. He makes a detailed analysis of the geographical incidence of the disturbances using the Federal Reserve District as the basic unit, and reappraises the role of Federal Reserve officials in the panics. His findings challenge many of the commonly held assumptions about the events of 1930 and 1931, for example the belief that the increase in the discount rate in October 1931 initiated a wave of bank suspensions and hoarding. This meticulous account will be of wide interest to students of the Great Depression, monetary and financial historians, financial economists and macroeconomists.


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