A History of Banking in Antebellum America: Financial Markets and Economic Development in an Era of Nation-Building

Studies in Macroeconomic History

by Howard Bodenhorn

This history focuses on the credit generating function of American banks. It demonstrates that banks aggressively promoted economic development rather than passively following its course. Using previously unexploited data, Professor Bodenhorn shows that banks helped to advance the development of industrialization. Additionally, he shows that banks formed long-distance relationships that promoted geographic capital mobility, thereby assuring that short-term capital was directed in socially desirable directions. He then traces those institutional and legal developments that allowed for this capital mobility.

284 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2000

Reviews

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great info presented both anecdotally and in graphs/tables. Potentially unreliable, but that’s primarily due to the paucity of historical records and secondarily due to the weird methods (of both argumentation and statistical interpretation) on which the author has to rely because of that paucity. Well-argued and -organized, but not -written. Oh well. Great bibliography.

Short enough I’d recommend - won’t waste too much of your time if you dislike or -agree.