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Shadowy Banks and Financial Contagion during the Great Depression: A Retrospective on Friedman and Schwartz

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  • Kris James Mitchener
  • Gary Richardson

Abstract

This essay assesses whether network linkages within the banking system amplified the real effects of bank failures during the Great Contraction. In 1929, nearly all interbank deposits held by Federal Reserve member banks belonged to "shadowy" nonmember banks which were outside the regulatory reach of federal regulators. Regional banking panics in the early 1930s drained these interbank deposits from central reserve city banks. Money-center banks in Chicago and New York responded to volatile and declining interbank deposits by changing their asset composition. They reduced their lending to businesses and individuals, and increased their holdings of cash and government bonds.

Suggested Citation

  • Kris James Mitchener & Gary Richardson, 2013. "Shadowy Banks and Financial Contagion during the Great Depression: A Retrospective on Friedman and Schwartz," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 73-78, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:103:y:2013:i:3:p:73-78
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.3.73
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Carlson & Kris James Mitchener & Gary Richardson, 2011. "Arresting Banking Panics: Federal Reserve Liquidity Provision and the Forgotten Panic of 1929," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(5), pages 889-924.
    2. Michael D. Bordo & David C. Wheelock, 2010. "The promise and performance of the Federal Reserve as lender of last resort 1914-1933," Working Papers 2010-036, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Rieder, Kilian, 2020. "Financial stability policies and bank lending: quasi-experimental evidence from Federal Reserve interventions in 1920-21," ESRB Working Paper Series 113, European Systemic Risk Board.
    2. Eichengreen, Barry & Mehl, Arnaud & Chitu, Livia & Richardson, Gary, 2015. "Mutual Assistance between Federal Reserve Banks: 1913–1960 as Prolegomena to the TARGET2 Debate," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(3), pages 621-659, September.
    3. Todd Messer, 2022. "Financial Failure and Depositor Quality: Evidence from Building and Loan Associations in California," International Finance Discussion Papers 1354, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. 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.
    5. Postel-Vinay, Natacha, 2016. "What caused Chicago bank failures in the Great Depression? A look at the 1920s," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88844, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Daniel O. Beltran & Valentin Bolotnyy & Elizabeth C. Klee, 2015. "Un-Networking: The Evolution of Networks in the Federal Funds Market," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-55, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    7. 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.
    8. Mary Eschelbach Hansen & Nicolas L. Ziebarth, 2017. "Credit Relationships and Business Bankruptcy during the Great Depression," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(2), pages 228-255, April.
    9. Anbil, Sriya, 2018. "Managing stigma during a financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 166-181.
    10. David Laidler, 2013. "Reassessing the Thesis of the Monetary History," University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute Working Papers 20135, University of Western Ontario, Economic Policy Research Institute.
    11. Natacha Postel-Vinay, 2015. "What caused Chicago bank failures in the Great Depression? A look at the 1920s," Working Papers 22, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • N12 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • N22 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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    1. Shadowy Banks and Financial Contagion during the Great Depression: A Retrospective on Friedman and Schwartz (AER 2013) in ReplicationWiki

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