During the past two decades 130 of the 182 IMF member countries have experienced serious problems in their banking sectors or an outright banking crisis. Among the stylized facts about these crises are their often systemic nature, a pronounced boom-bust cyde and substantial financial involvement...

Introduction -- "Too Clubby to Fail": Wall Street Banks Win, Thrifts and Community Banks Lose -- Increased Risk Taking Due to Deregulation -- Deregulation, Politics, and Criminal Prosecutions -- The Four Major Waves of Change in the 1990s That -- Laid the Groundwork for the 2008 Financial Crisis...