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The Crash of 1882, Counterparty Risk, and the Bailout of the Paris Bourse

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  • Eugene N. White

Abstract

The rapid growth of derivative markets has raised concerns about counterparty risk. It has been argued that their mutual guarantee funds provide an adequate safety net. While this mutualization of risk protects clients and brokers from idiosyncratic shocks, it is generally assumed that it also offers protection against systemic shocks, largely based on the observation that no twentieth century exchange has been forced to shut down. However, an important exception occurred in 1882 when the crash of the French stock market nearly forced the closure of the Paris Bourse. This exchange's structure was very similar to today's futures markets, with a dominant forward market leading the Bourse to adopt a common fund to guarantee transactions. Using new archival data, this paper shows how the crash overwhelmed the Bourse's common fund. Only an emergency loan from the Bank of France, intermediated by the largest banks, prevented a closure of the Bourse.

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  • Eugene N. White, 2007. "The Crash of 1882, Counterparty Risk, and the Bailout of the Paris Bourse," NBER Working Papers 12933, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:12933
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    Cited by:

    1. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Isabel Schnabel, 2014. "Bubbles and Central Banks: Historical Perspectives," Working Papers 1411, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, revised 31 Oct 2014.
    2. Calomiris, Charles W. & Flandreau, Marc & Laeven, Luc, 2016. "Political foundations of the lender of last resort: A global historical narrative," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 48-65.
    3. Hautcoeur, Pierre-Cyrille & Riva, Angelo & White, Eugene N., 2014. "Floating a “lifeboat”: The Banque de France and the crisis of 1889," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 104-119.
    4. Stefano Ugolini, 2014. "Comment on: “Floating a “lifeboat”: The Banque de France and the crisis of 1889” by P.C. Hautcoeur, A. Riva, and E.N. White," Post-Print hal-01293759, HAL.
    5. David le Bris, 2018. "What is a market crash?," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(2), pages 480-505, May.
    6. Pierre-Cyrille Hautcoeur & Amir Rezaee & Angelo Riva, 2023. "Competition between securities markets: stock exchange industry regulation in the Paris financial center at the turn of the twentieth century," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 17(2), pages 261-299, May.
    7. Jérémy Ducros & Angelo Riva, 2014. "The Lyon Stock Exchange: A Struggle for Survival (1866-1914)," Working Papers halshs-00960528, HAL.
    8. Frederic S. Mishkin & Eugene White, 2014. "Unprecedented actions: the Federal Reserve’s response to the global financial crisis in historical perspective," Globalization Institute Working Papers 209, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
    9. Raphaël Hekimian, 2017. "The French banking sector during the interwar: What lessons can be drawn from the stock market?," EconomiX Working Papers 2017-3, University of Paris Nanterre, EconomiX.
    10. Jérémy Ducros & Angelo Riva, 2018. "The Lyon Stock Exchange: The Survival of the Fittest (1866-1914)," PSE Working Papers halshs-01800720, HAL.
    11. G. Bazot & M. D. Bordo & E. Monnet, 2014. "The Price of Stability. The balance sheet policy of the Banque de France and the Gold Standard (1880-1914)," Working papers 510, Banque de France.
    12. Bazot, Guillaume & Bordo, Michael D. & Monnet, Eric, 2016. "International shocks and the balance sheet of the Bank of France under the classical gold standard," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 87-107.
    13. Raphaël Hekimian, 2017. "The French banking sector during the interwar: What lessons can be drawn from the stock market?," Working Papers hal-04141670, HAL.
    14. Riva, Angelo & White, Eugene N., 2011. "Danger on the exchange: How counterparty risk was managed on the Paris exchange in the nineteenth century," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 478-493.
    15. Oosterlinck, Kim & Accominotti, Olivier & BRIERE, Marie & Burietz, Aurore & Szafarz, Ariane, 2020. "Did Globalization Kill Contagion?," CEPR Discussion Papers 14395, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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