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

Matthew Jaremski and Peter Rousseau

No 18021, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: G21 N21 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-fdg and nep-his
Note: DAE ME
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Published as Matthew Jaremski & Peter L. Rousseau, 2013. "Banks, Free Banks, And U.S. Economic Growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1603-1621, 04.

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Related works:
Journal Article: BANKS, FREE BANKS, AND U.S. ECONOMIC GROWTH (2013)
Working Paper: Banks, free banks, and U.S. economic growth (2012)
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