Description

Banks on the Brink explains why some countries are more vulnerable to banking crises than others. Copelovitch and Singer highlight the effects of two variables in combination: foreign capital inflows and the relative prominence of securities markets in the domestic financial system. Foreign capital is the fuel for banks’ potentially dangerous behavior, and banks are more likely to take on excessive risks when operating in a financial system with large securities markets. The book analyzes over thirty years of data and provides historical case studies of two key countries, Canada and Germany, each of which explores how political decisions in the 19th and early-20th centuries continue to affect financial stability today. The analyses in this book have crucial policy implications, identifying potential regulations and policies that can work to protect banking systems against future crises.

Mark Copelovitch is professor in the Department of Political Science and the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He works on the political economy of international trade, money, and finance, with a particular interest in the domestic and international politics of financial crises and the role of the International Monetary Fund in global financial governance, and European integration and the European Union.

This event is sponsored in part by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the German Federal Foreign Office (AA).