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Banks, Free Banks, and U.S. Economic Growth

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  • Matthew Jaremski
  • Peter L. Rousseau

Abstract

The "Federalist financial revolution" may have jump-started the U.S. economy into modern growth, but the Free Banking System (1837-1862) did not play a direct role in sustaining it. Despite lowering entry barriers and extending banking into developing regions, we find in county-level data that free banks had little or no effect on growth. The result is not just a symptom of the era, as state-chartered banks seem to have strong and positive effects on manufacturing and urbanization.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew Jaremski & Peter L. Rousseau, 2012. "Banks, Free Banks, and U.S. Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 18021, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18021
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    1. Do banks facilitate economic growth? If so, what type?
      by Chris Colvin in NEP-HIS blog on 2013-02-13 23:39:33

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    2. Howard Bodenhorn, 2016. "Two Centuries of Finance and Growth in the United States, 1790-1980," Working Papers id:11352, eSocialSciences.
    3. Livio Di Matteo & Angela Redish, 2015. "The evolution of financial intermediation: Evidence from 19th‐century Ontario microdata," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(3), pages 963-987, August.
    4. Emmanuel Carré & Guillaume L’œillet, 2018. "The Literature on the Finance–Growth Nexus in the Aftermath of the Financial Crisis: A Review," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(1), pages 161-180, March.
    5. Christopher Bailey & Tarique Hossain & Gary Pecquet, 2018. "Private banks in early Michigan, 1837–1884," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 12(1), pages 153-180, January.
    6. Bodenhorn, Howard & Cuberes, David, 2018. "Finance and urbanization in early nineteenth-century New York," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 47-58.
    7. Jaremski, Matthew, 2014. "National Banking's Role in U.S. Industrialization, 1850–1900," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(1), pages 109-140, March.
    8. Emmanuel Carré & Guillaume L’Œillet, 2017. "Une revue de la littérature récente sur le nexus finance-croissance après la crise : apports, limites et pistes de recherche," Revue d'économie financière, Association d'économie financière, vol. 0(3), pages 271-290.
    9. Popov, Alexander, 2017. "Evidence on finance and economic growth," Working Paper Series 2115, European Central Bank.
    10. James Feigenbaum & James Lee & Filippo Mezzanotti, 2022. "Capital Destruction and Economic Growth: The Effects of Sherman's March, 1850–1920," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 301-342, October.
    11. Peter L. Rousseau, 2013. "Politics on the road to the U.S. monetary union," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 13-00006, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    12. Howard Bodenhorn, 2017. "Opening Access: Banks and Politics in New York from the Revolution to the Civil War," NBER Working Papers 23560, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

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

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