Introduction : our message and methods -- What is the problem? -- Why protection is costly -- How pervasive is TBTF? -- Why protect TBTF creditors? -- The growth of TBTF protection -- Testing our thesis : the cases of not too big to fail -- Can the problem be addressed? -- Creating the necessary...

This paper shows that the abolition of state guarantees to publicly owned banks in Germany resulted in an increase in refinancing costs at German savings banks. Rather than being the result of increased market discipline, the increase in refinancing costs is shown to be driven by spillover...