Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Bank Failures and Near Failures That Started America’s Greatest Financial Panics

Hugh Rockoff

No 28577, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This is my presidential address to the Economic History Association that was delivered in September 2020. It examines the failures or in some cases near-failures, of financial institutions that started the 12 most severe peacetime financial panics in the United States, beginning with the Panic of 1819 and ending with the Panic of 2008. The following generalizations were true in most cases, although not in all. (1) Panics were triggered by a short series of failures or near-failures; (2) many of the failing institutions were what we would now call shadow banks; (3) typically, the source of trouble was an excessive investment in real estate; and (4) typically, they had outstanding reputations for trustworthiness, prudence, and financial acumen—before they failed. It appears that in these respects the Panic of 2008 was an old-school panic.

JEL-codes: N2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
Note: DAE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published as Rockoff, Hugh, 2021. "Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen: The Bank Failures and Near Failures That Started America’s Greatest Financial Panics," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(2), pages 331-358, June.

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