Economic Review

In his article, "The Evolution of the Bank Regulatory Structure: A Reappraisal," F. Ward McCarthy Jr. argues that neither of these competing theories provides a sufficient explanation for the major developments in the bank regulatory framework of the United States. He proposes that the structure of bank regulation has been dictated in part by the desire of governments to enhance their abilities to generate revenue. McCarthy traces the history of government intervention in the banking industry from the colonial period through the 1930s and demonstrates that concern about public finance has been a crucial factor behind every important change in the institutional structure of bank regulation.