Discussion Paper
The Growth of Murky Finance
Sarkar, Asani; Hou, David; Antill, Samuel (2014-03-27)
Building upon previous posts in this series that discussed individual banks, we examine the historical growth of the entire financial sector, relative to the rest of the economy. This sector’s historically large share of the economy today (see chart below) and its role in disrupting the functioning of the real economy during the recent financial crisis have led to questions about the social value of costly financial services. While new regulations such as the Dodd-Frank Act impose restrictions on financial activities and increase their costs, especially those of large firms, our paper ...
Liberty Street Economics , Paper 20140327

Journal Article
Turbulent Years for U.S. Banks: 2000-20
Wilson, Paul W. (2022-07-14)
The first 20 years of the twenty-first century have presented U.S. banks with three recessions, long periods of very low interest rates, and increased regulation. The number of commercial banks operating in the United States declined by 51 percent during this period. This article examines the performance of U.S. commercial banks from 2000 through 2020. An overall picture is provided by examining the evolution of assets, deposits, loans, and other financial characteristics over the period. In addition, new estimates of technical inefficiency are provided, offering additional insight into ...
Review , Volume 104 , Issue 3 , Pages 189-209

Journal Article
Components of U.S. financial sector growth, 1950-2013
Sarkar, Asani; Hou, David; Antill, Samuel (2014-12)
The U.S. financial sector grew steadily as a share of the total business sector from 1959 until the recent financial crisis, when the trend reversed. In this article, the authors develop measures based on firm-level data to estimate the size of the financial sector and its subsectors relative to the total business (financial and nonfinancial) sector over time. The analysis further sheds light on how these size measures are affected by a firm?s choice of financing (whether public or private), firm size, industry type, use of leverage, and regulation. The authors find that the relative size of ...
Economic Policy Review , Issue Dec , Pages 59-83

Commercial Banks Appear Resilient despite Pandemic
White, Carl (2021-06-03)
Data at the national and Eighth District state levels show banks improved their return on average assets in the first quarter, though challenges remain.
On the Economy

Commercial Banks in District, Nation Finish 2021 in Strong Position
White, Carl (2022-04-04)
Banks continued their rebound, posting satisfactory earnings and asset quality measures well above industry benchmarks.
On the Economy