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Intensified Regulatory Scrutiny and Bank Distress in New York City During the Great Depression

Author

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  • Richardson, Gary
  • Van Horn, Patrick

Abstract

Bank distress peaked in New York City, at the center of the United States money market, in July and August 1931, when the banking crisis peaked in Germany and before Britain abandoned the gold standard. This article tests competing theories about the causes of New York's banking crisis. The cause appears to have been intensified regulatory scrutiny, which was a delayed reaction to the failure of the Bank of United States, rather than the exposure of money center banks to events overseas.

Suggested Citation

  • Richardson, Gary & Van Horn, Patrick, 2009. "Intensified Regulatory Scrutiny and Bank Distress in New York City During the Great Depression," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(2), pages 446-465, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:69:y:2009:i:02:p:446-465_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Richardson, Gary & Van Horn, Patrick, 2018. "In the eye of a Storm: Manhattan's money center banks during the international financial crisis of 1931," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 71-94.
    2. Haelim Park & Patrick Van Horn, 2015. "Did the Reserve Requirement Increases of 1936–37 Reduce Bank Lending? Evidence from a Quasi‐Experiment," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 47(5), pages 791-818, August.
    3. Christoffer Koch & Gary Richardson & Patrick Van Horn, 2016. "Bank Leverage and Regulatory Regimes: Evidence from the Great Depression and Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 538-542, May.
    4. Olivier Accominotti, 2019. "International banking and transmission of the 1931 financial crisis," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 260-285, February.
    5. Accominotti, Olivier, 2012. "London Merchant Banks, the Central European Panic, and the Sterling Crisis of 1931," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 1-43, March.
    6. Christoffer Koch & Gary Richardson & Patrick Van Horn, 2025. "Countercyclical Capital Buffers: A Cautionary Tale," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(4), pages 793-832, June.
    7. Price Fishback, 2010. "US monetary and fiscal policy in the 1930s," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 26(3), pages 385-413, Autumn.
    8. Sergi Basco & John P. Tang, 2021. "Banks, Credit Supply, and the Life Cycle of Firms: Theory and Evidence from Late Nineteenth Century Japan," CEH Discussion Papers 02, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    9. Mark Billings & Forrest Capie, 2011. "Financial crisis, contagion, and the British banking system between the world wars," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 193-215.
    10. Haelim Anderson & Gary Richardson & Brian Yang, 2023. "Deposit Insurance and Depositor Monitoring: Quasi‐Experimental Evidence from the Creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(2-3), pages 441-464, March.
    11. Monnet, Eric & Velde, François R., 2020. "Money, Banking, and Old-School Historical Economics," CEPR Discussion Papers 15348, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Tang, John P. & Basco, Sergi, 2023. "Banks, credit supply, and the life cycle of firms: Evidence from late nineteenth century Japan," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    13. Robert William Fogel & Enid M. Fogel & Mark Guglielmo & Nathaniel Grotte, 2013. "Acknowledgments, References, Index," NBER Chapters, in: Political Arithmetic: Simon Kuznets and the Empirical Tradition in Economics, pages 119-148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Albrecht Ritschl & Samad Sarferaz, 2014. "Currency Versus Banking In The Financial Crisis Of 1931," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(2), pages 349-373, May.
    15. Ritschl, Albrecht & Sarferaz, Samad, 2009. "Crisis? What Crisis? Currency vs. Banking in the Financial Crisis of 1931," CEPR Discussion Papers 7610, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Olivier ACCOMINOTTI & Marie BRIERE & Aurore BURIETZ & Kim OOSTERLINCK & Ariane SZAFARZ, 2020. "Did Globalization Kill Contagion?," Working Papers 2020-ACF-01, IESEG School of Management.
    17. Robert L. Hetzel & Gary Richardson, 2016. "Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy from the Formation of the Federal Reserve until Today," Working Paper 16-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    18. Adam, Marc Christopher, 2020. "Liquidating bankers' acceptances: International crisis, doctrinal conflict and American exceptionalism in the Federal Reserve 1913-1932," Discussion Papers 2020/4, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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