Commercial Banks and Industrial Finance in England and Wales, 1860-1913

Before 1914, the City of London was the premier international financial centre. However, following the disruption of the world markets caused by World War I and the Great Depression of the 1930s, other industrial nations quickly and effectively challenged Britain's influence. Critics of the banks claim that, even before 1914, there were serious deficiencies in the financial provision provided by banks to the domestic industrial sector, and that these deficiencies handicapped Britain's competitive advantage in world markets, leading to the decline of their influence and power. This book examines these claims, and bringing to bear important new data that presents the debate in a novel and revealing framework, expounds an economic rationale for historical bank behaviour.