'What a good idea to assemble a group of top financial historians and ask them to review the origins of the institutions of banking and financial policy. This excellent collection is perfectly designed for the many reflective policymakers now seeking to reform their financial systems. The authoritative treatment extends not only to commercial and central banking, but also to thrift institutions, pensions and securities markets. The authors describe both how the large degree of consensus emerged and the vigorous debates that remain: deposit insurance vs. 'depositor beware' and universal banking vs. market segmentation.' Patrick Honohan, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin

• List of contributors; 1. Financial history: lessons of the past for reformers of the present Gerard Caprio Jr. and Dimitri Vittas; 2. The evolution of central banking Forrest Capie; 3. Free banking: the Scottish experience as a model for emerging economies Randall S. Kroszner; 4. Regulation and bank stability: Canada and the United States, 1870–1980 Michael Bordo; 5. Deposit insurance Eugene White; 6. Contingent liability in banking: useful policy for developing countries? Anthony Saunders and Berry Wilson; 7. Universal banking and the financing of industrial development Charles W. Calomiris; 8. Before main banks: a selective historical overview of Japan's prewar financial system Frank Packer; 9. Thrift deposit institutions in Europe and the United States Dimitri Vittas; 10. The development of industrial pensions in the United States during the twentieth century Samuel H. Williamson; 11. The rise of securities markets: what can government do? Richard Sylla; Index.

'What a good idea to assemble a group of top financial historians and ask them to review the origins of the institutions of banking and financial policy. This excellent collection is perfectly designed for the many reflective policymakers now seeking to reform their financial systems. The authoritative treatment extends not only to commercial and central banking, but also to thrift institutions, pensions and securities markets. The authors describe both how the large degree of consensus emerged and the vigorous debates that remain: deposit insurance vs. 'depositor beware' and universal banking vs. market segmentation.' Patrick Honohan, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin

• List of contributors; 1. Financial history: lessons of the past for reformers of the present Gerard Caprio Jr. and Dimitri Vittas; 2. The evolution of central banking Forrest Capie; 3. Free banking: the Scottish experience as a model for emerging economies Randall S. Kroszner; 4. Regulation and bank stability: Canada and the United States, 1870–1980 Michael Bordo; 5. Deposit insurance Eugene White; 6. Contingent liability in banking: useful policy for developing countries? Anthony Saunders and Berry Wilson; 7. Universal banking and the financing of industrial development Charles W. Calomiris; 8. Before main banks: a selective historical overview of Japan's prewar financial system Frank Packer; 9. Thrift deposit institutions in Europe and the United States Dimitri Vittas; 10. The development of industrial pensions in the United States during the twentieth century Samuel H. Williamson; 11. The rise of securities markets: what can government do? Richard Sylla; Index.

'What a good idea to assemble a group of top financial historians and ask them to review the origins of the institutions of banking and financial policy. This excellent collection is perfectly designed for the many reflective policymakers now seeking to reform their financial systems. The authoritative treatment extends not only to commercial and central banking, but also to thrift institutions, pensions and securities markets. The authors describe both how the large degree of consensus emerged and the vigorous debates that remain: deposit insurance vs. 'depositor beware' and universal banking vs. market segmentation.' Patrick Honohan, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin

• List of contributors; 1. Financial history: lessons of the past for reformers of the present Gerard Caprio Jr. and Dimitri Vittas; 2. The evolution of central banking Forrest Capie; 3. Free banking: the Scottish experience as a model for emerging economies Randall S. Kroszner; 4. Regulation and bank stability: Canada and the United States, 1870–1980 Michael Bordo; 5. Deposit insurance Eugene White; 6. Contingent liability in banking: useful policy for developing countries? Anthony Saunders and Berry Wilson; 7. Universal banking and the financing of industrial development Charles W. Calomiris; 8. Before main banks: a selective historical overview of Japan's prewar financial system Frank Packer; 9. Thrift deposit institutions in Europe and the United States Dimitri Vittas; 10. The development of industrial pensions in the United States during the twentieth century Samuel H. Williamson; 11. The rise of securities markets: what can government do? Richard Sylla; Index.