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La banca y las crisis financieras en la literatura popular: Una fortuna peligrosa, de Ken Follett /Banking and Financial Crises in Popular Literature: A Dangerous Fortune, by Ken Follett

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  • RODRÍGUEZ BRAUN, CARLOS

    () (Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad CC.EE., Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), España.)

Abstract

El best-seller de Ken Follett, Una fortuna peligrosa, además de los ingredientes habituales del género, contiene abundante información económica, al relatar la historia de un banco ficticio, pero cuyas operaciones y problemas son idénticos a los de los bancos reales, en una sucesión de crisis financieras que efectivamente se registraron en el siglo XIX, en particular las de 1866, 1878 y 1890 en Gran Bretaña, asociadas respectivamente a las quiebras de Overend, Gurney & Co., el City of Glasgow Bank y la banca Baring Brothers. El contexto histórico, la importancia de los marcos institucionales para el desarrollo económico, y la organización de la banca y el sistema financiero en tiempos en los que empezaba a plasmarse el papel del banco central como prestamista de última instancia, son analizados en general con acierto. La novela, de este modo, traza un retrato que integra abundantes referencias económicas y financieras de interés para economistas e historiadores. Ken Follett?s best-seller, A Dangerous Fortune, in addition to the usual ingredients of this kind of popular literature, contains much economic information: it tells the story of a bank, a fictitious one, but with operations and problems identical to the real ones, in a succession of economic crises that in fact took place in the nineteenth century, particu¬larly those of 1866, 1878 and 1890 in Britain, respectively associated with the bankruptcies of Overend, Gurney & Co., the City of Glasgow Bank and Baring Brothers bank. The historical context, the relevance of institutional frameworks for economic development, and the organization of banks and the financial system in the times when the central bank role as lender of last resort was barely beginning to take form, are analyzed correctly in general lines. The novel thus draws a picture that includes many economic and financial references that may interest economists and historians.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodríguez Braun, Carlos, 2014. "La banca y las crisis financieras en la literatura popular: Una fortuna peligrosa, de Ken Follett /Banking and Financial Crises in Popular Literature: A Dangerous Fortune, by Ken Follett," Estudios de Economía Aplicada, Estudios de Economía Aplicada, vol. 32, pages 201-222, Enero.
    • Handle: RePEc:lrk:eeaart:32_1_10
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marc Flandreau, Stefano Ugolini, 2011. "Where It All Began: Lending of Last Resort and the Bank of England during the Overend, Gurney Panic of 1866," IHEID Working Papers 04-2011, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    2. C. R. Hickson & J. D. Turner, 2004. "Free banking and the stability of early joint-stock banking," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(6), pages 903-919, November.
    3. Vincent Bignon & Marc Flandreau & Stefano Ugolini, 2012. "Bagehot for beginners: the making of lender‐of‐last‐resort operations in the mid‐nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(2), pages 580-608, May.
    4. Vincent Bignon & Marc Flandreau & Stefano Ugolini, 2012. "Bagehot for beginners: the making of lender‐of‐last‐resort operations in the mid‐nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(2), pages 580-608, May.
    5. Acheson, Graeme G. & Turner, John D., 2008. "The death blow to unlimited liability in Victorian Britain: The City of Glasgow failure," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 235-253, July.
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    Keywords

    Banca; crisis; quiebras; historia económica; instituciones; cultura ; Banking; Crises; Bankruptcy; Economic History; Institutions; Culture.;

    JEL classification:

    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N21 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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