Banks, free banks, and U.S. economic growth

Matthew Jaremski and Peter Rousseau

No 12-00012, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers from Vanderbilt University Department of Economics

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.

Keywords: Free banking; antebellum banking; financial liberalization; finance-led growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E0 N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-09-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ban, nep-fdg, nep-his and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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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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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:van:wpaper:vuecon-12-00012

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