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California Banking in the Nineteenth Century: The Art and Method of the Bank of A. Levy

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  • White, Eugene N.

Abstract

An 1890s loan book of the Bank of A. Levy permits a detailed examination of the lending operations of a private bank in California during the National Banking Era (1864–1914). This period has been intensively analyzed at the national and state level, but there are few studies of banks at the firm level. This unregulated bank was integrated into money markets and lent to a broad cross section of the community. Although the bank appeared to adhere to the real bills doctrine, it provided businesses with medium-term, uncollateralized financing. The bank priced risk carefully, offering rates equal to the lowest in the country to its best customers while charging extraordinarily high rates to borrowers deemed risky. In the absence of modern accounting, the bank's close scrutiny of borrowers' businesses and personal lives enabled it to fulfill a special intermediary role.

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  • White, Eugene N., 2001. "California Banking in the Nineteenth Century: The Art and Method of the Bank of A. Levy," Business History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 75(2), pages 297-324, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:buhirw:v:75:y:2001:i:02:p:297-324_07
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    Cited by:

    1. Charles W. Calomiris & Mark A. Carlson, 2014. "National Bank Examinations and Operations in the Early 1890s," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2014-19, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. Hugh Rockoff, 2003. "Prodigals and Projecture: An Economic History of Usury Laws in the United States from Colonial Times to 1900," NBER Working Papers 9742, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Wang, Ta-Chen, 2008. "Paying back to borrow more: Reputation and bank credit access in early America," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 477-488, September.

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