We study how financial system architecture evolves through the development of banks and financial markets. The predominant existing view is that banks and markets compete, which often contradicts actual patterns of development. We show that banks and markets exhibit three forms of interaction:...

This paper briefly discusses the causes of the 2007-09 financial crisis and the extent to which the systemic risk that buffeted this crisis was linked to excessive leverage. It then focuses on what is needed for a healthy financial system that has a relatively low probability of a systemic...