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Fighting "Fear Itself": The Bank Holiday of March 1933

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Abstract

In the month preceding Franklin Roosevelt's inauguration, a panic overwhelmed the U.S. banking system. Immediately after assuming office, Roosevelt declared a nationwide bank holiday and vowed to reopen only sound banks. Five days after the holiday ended, nearly 11,000 of the nation's more than 18,000 commercial banks had reopened. Nearly 4,000 never reopened or had to be reorganized. The holiday is often credited with helping reestablish financial stability, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying the reopening process and the way in which payment systems were restored. We detail the process of reopening the banking system using narrative records provided by contemporary policymakers. Further, with new data on the date and type of reopenings, we provide descriptive statistics showing spatial and serial relationships of bank operations. Lastly, we discuss the rehabilitation programs that followed after the Holiday.

Suggested Citation

  • Jaremski, Matthew & Richardson, Gary & Vossmeyer, Angela, 2025. "Fighting "Fear Itself": The Bank Holiday of March 1933," Journal of Financial Crises, Yale Program on Financial Stability (YPFS), vol. 7(1), pages 31-56, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ysm:ypfsfc:v:7:y:2025:i:1:p:31-56
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    File URL: https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1608&context=journal-of-financial-crises
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    Keywords

    bank stability; Great Depression; Office of the Comptroller of Currency; Regulation; United States Department of the Treasury;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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