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9 - Banking on Prosperity

from Part V - Special Topics on Economic Growth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2021

John W. Diamond
Affiliation:
Rice University, Houston
George R. Zodrow
Affiliation:
Rice University, Houston
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Summary

Banks provide vital services to the economy: mobilizing, allocating, and monitoring the use of savings, by firms and individuals; providing mechanisms for pooling and managing risks; and facilitating trade in goods, services, and securities. When banking systems perform well, for example by improving the allocation of resources, they accelerate long-run economic growth. Furthermore, better-functioning banks disproportionately help lower-income families by funneling capital to the most promising entrepreneurs, rather than to those from the most connected families. By improving the efficiency of capital allocation, better-functioning banks create a more competitive environment in which workers face more dynamic labor markets, thus enhancing the economic opportunities available to people who may never receive a loan or start a business. Recent research also finds that regulatory reforms that spur competition among banks not only improve the economy; they also lower crime, ease financing constraints, increase schooling, shrink racial wage gaps, and help alleviate mental depression. This suggests important connections between finance and prosperity.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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