Acquisitions of industrial loan corporations by commercial firms have renewed the debate over the separation between banking and commerce in the U.S. On May 16–18, 2007, policymakers and academics weighed in on this debate during the Chicago Fed’s 43rd annual Conference on Bank Structure and...

This article discusses how the global financial crisis has forced researchers and policymakers to reconsider their understanding of both the economics of asset price bubbles and alternative policy options to address them.