The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

The Panic of 1857 in the absence of a National Bank

På svenska

Author

  • Peter Kostadinov

Summary, in English

Research on financial crises is important and especially relevant nowadays when the economy is slowing down globally. The crisis 2007-8 and the Great Depression of the 20th century are the longest and most severe financial calamities ever experienced and they share some eerie similarities with the Panic of 1857 – they all originate in the US but have international implications because they take place in a world of interconnected trade. Despite being similar, these crises are different in their length, severity and the way they were handled by the authorities. The two longest and most severe develop in the context of a National Bank having control over the money supply of the nation, while the shortest in the 19th century developed absent of a government bank. These crises contradict the conventional wisdom postulating that in the absence of centralized control over the money supply crises was a recurring theme in the 19th century US. The recessions after the panics of 1819, 1837 and 1857 suggest that lower monetary inflation and no government bank resulted in less severe crises. The crashes of the 19th century and especially the Panic of 1857, tended to cause the most pain on the people who were taking advantage of the system.

Publishing year

2015

Language

English

Document type

Student publication for Master's degree (one year)

Topic

  • Social Sciences

Keywords

  • panic of 1857
  • panic of 1837
  • panic of 1819
  • financial crises

Supervisor

  • Tobias Karlsson