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American Commercial Banking: A History 

American Commercial Banking: A History 
By Benjamin J. Klebaner
2005/02 - Beard Books 
1587981424 - Paperback - Reprint -  294 pp.
US$34.95 

Everything you wanted to know about banking history!

Publisher Comments

Category: Banking & Finance

Of Interest:

American Express: The People Who Built the Great Financial Empire 

Bailout: An Insider's Account of Bank Failures and Rescues

The Failure of the Franklin National Bank: Challenge to the International Banking System

The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank: 1397-1494

The Story of Bank of America: Biography of a Bank

The Tumultuous History of the Bank of America

Thrifts Under Siege: Restoring Order to American Banking

Did you know that commercial banks in the United States, which have been the main category of financial intermediary, did not begin until the late eighteenth century? They have been and continue to be an influential and powerful industry. This informative and fascinating book traces the history of commercial banking from its inception to 1988. The authoritative historical perspective provides a greater understanding of more recent times and of the many policy issues that have arisen through the years. In addition to being a remarkable piece of scholarship, it is a very readable book. It should be on the "must read" list of all students of finance and history, as well as others who are curious as to the role banks have played in our society.

From the back cover blurb:

Commercial banks have been America's main category of financial intermediary for many years. they have been and continue as an influential and powerful industry. Informative and fascinating, the book traces the evolution of commercial banking in the United States from its beginnings in the late eighteenth century until 1988. This historical perspective provides a greater understanding of more recent times and of the many policy issues that have arisen through the years...

From Carter H. Golembe, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board, The Secura Group:

A remarkable blend of scholarship and readability. It is not often that a work that surely will be used as an authoritative reference is also difficult to put down once it is opened.

From Larry Schweikart, University of Dayton:

Chock full of important information, Klebaner's concise volume could easily be called 'everything you wanted to know about banking history.

From Book News, Inc.:

Traces the evolution of commercial banking from before the American revolution, but particular emphasis is placed on the last 60 years, with the introduction of new credit instruments and the impact of government regulation and deregulation. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Benjamin J. Klebaner is a professor of economics at City College of the City University of New York. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University and taught at Rutgers University before joining the faculty of City College in 1954. An expert on banking practices past and present, Professor Klebaner has frequently testified before congressional banking and currency committees. For sixteen years he served as a regional economist for the office of the comptroller of the currency. He is a past associate editor of the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking.

Preface xi
Part I. Banking before 1863
1 The Rise and Spread of Banking 3
2 Bank Notes and Deposits 18
3 Bank Loans 30
4 Government-Bank Relations 41
5 Antebellum Banking: An Assessment 49
Part II. Banking from 1863 to 1913
6 Banks in the Civil War 59
7 The Heyday of Unit Banks 64
8 Banks and the Means of Payment 75
9 Bank Loans and Investments 84
10 Bank Failure and Panic 92
11 Banking, Government and the Economy 99
Part III. Banking from 1913 to 1945
12 The Federal Reserve System's Early Years 111
13 Banking in the 1920s 118
14 A Crumbling Industry 138
15 Reconstruction and War 149
16 A Turbulent Era 170
Part IV. Banking since 1945
17 Structural Change and Functional Growth 177
18 All-Purpose Lenders 194
19 Funding a Vigorous Banking System 213
20 Supervision and Regulation 224
21 Some Perspectives and Prospects 239
Appendix 249
Chronology 251
Notes and References 255
Selected Bibliography 271
Index 278

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