This important new volume addresses the many aspects of banking in European market economies in the twentieth century, making innovative and authoritative research available to historians, economists, financiers and business analysts. The distinguished group of authors examines the historic role of banks in utilizing domestic and foreign financial resources. Their contributions show that from the 1880s onwards banks became an integral part of the capital market in continental Europe. In the course of this development the banks played a crucial part in financing industry in North and Central Europe. This symbiotic relationship between banks and industry is analysed and is shown to have had a decisive impact on the inflation and crisis-prone interwar period. The comparative and quantitative methods applied in these papers reveal differences between the countries of North and Central Europe, especially with regard to the degree of state intervention in individual economies. Other topics discussed include the networks of interlocking directorships, the effectiveness of banking legislation and the impact of the national question on banking in central and Southeast Europe.

Universal Banking in the Twentieth Century illustrates both striking similarities and marked differences in the role of universal banking across Europe in terms of the level of industrialization and the pace of economic growth.