We offer and test two competing hypotheses for the consolidation trend in banking using U.S. banking industry data over the period 1982-2000. Under the "efficiency hypothesis", technological progress improved the performance of large, multimarket firms relative to small, single-market firms,...

"The application in July 2005 by Wal-Mart to obtain a specialized bank charter from the state of Utah and to obtain federal deposit insurance reopened a national debate concerning the separation of banking and commerce. Though Wal-Mart withdrew its application in March 2007, the issue and the...

With banking currently in turmoil, a new formula for bank structure and activities, for deposit insurance, and for bank regulation is necessary. This paper reviews the dilemmas of the current structure of banking in the United States and explains how the banking sector arrived at its current...

The massive insolvency of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation has created a public policy crisis of major proportions. This paper provides a framework for understanding the basic problems of deposit insurance, explores the origins of the current crisis, describes the regulatory...

This paper examines two forces that may soon increase competition in the U.S. secondary conforming mortgage market: (1) the Federal Home Loan Bank mortgage purchase programs, and (2) the adoption of revised risk-based capital requirements for large U.S. banks (Basel II). We argue that this...