In 1986, a task force of banking academics organized and sponsored by the American Bankers Association convened to examine the banking industry and the efficacy of its regulatory system. The group was charged with reviewing the problems of ensuring the safety and soundness of the banking system...

We develop new techniques to assess the relationship between commercial bank performance and the economic conditions in the markets in which they operate. In the analysis, we allow for heterogeneity in the responses of banks to regional economic conditions. We find a statistically significant...

In the wake of the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, the separation of banking from commercial activity is now one of the few remaining pieces of Depression-era banking law. In this article I explore the incentives that banks and commercial firms might have to affiliate. I also outline some...