The author finds that the bank production process was significantly distorted during a period typically associated with heavy industry regulation. As deregulation occurred, banks fully exploited the cost advantages associated with size and reaped significant gains from technological change....

This article summarizes a conference, titled “Issues Related to Central Counterparty Clearing,” cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the European Central Bank on April 3–4, 2006. The conference brought together industry executives, policymakers, and research economists to...

This article provides background on the evolution of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and fair lending regulations, summarizes the relevant economic literature, and evaluates the effectiveness of the regulations by analyzing recent trends in mortgage lending activity. Are the trends in line with...

As financial regulation evolved over the past 80 years, it became common to introduce new legislation with the claim that “this is the most significant regulatory reform since the Great Depression and the Banking Act of 1933.” On July 21, 2010, following the 2008–09 financial crisis,...

Industry observes have proposed increasing the role of subordinated debt in bank capital requirements as a means to increase market discipline. A recent Federal Reserve System Task Force evaluated the characteristics of such proposals. Here, the authors take the next step and offer a specific...