Scholars frequently assert that financial legislation in the U.S. is primarily driven by financial crises. This ‘crisis legislation hypothesis’ is often cited as an explanation for various supposed shortcomings of US financial legislation, including that it is ill-conceived and inadequate to...

This essay reviews Perino's timely, well-written, and meticulously researched book on Ferdinand Pecora's 1933 investigative hearings into the malfeasance of Wall Street banks and securities dealers preceding the Great Crash. The essay, after summarizing Perino's main contributions, argues that...

The U.S. banking holiday of March 1933 was a pivotal event in 20th century political and economic history. After closing the nation's banks for nine days, the newly inaugurated Franklin D. Roosevelt administration restarted the banking system as the first step toward national recovery from the...