The Money View Reading Group reads and discusses writings on money, banking, and finance. We are a self-directed group. Anyone interested in money and banking can read the readings, join us for discussions, or suggest future readings.

We usually meet via Zoom every other Tuesday at 4 pm Eastern Time US (New York).

https://www.amazon.com/Crash-Course-Crises-Macroeconomic-Recoveries/dp/0691221103

From the description:

Each of the book’s ten self-contained chapters introduces readers to a key economic force and provides case studies that illustrate how that force was dominant. Markus Brunnermeier and Ricardo Reis show how the run-up phase of a crisis often occurs in ways that are preventable but that may go unnoticed and discuss how debt contracts, banks, and a search for safety can act as triggers and amplifiers that drive the economy to crash. Brunnermeier and Reis then explain how monetary, fiscal, and exchange-rate policies can respond to crises and prevent them from becoming persistent.

During the week of the Money View Symposium, we discuss a 2024 New York Fed Report entitled “Failing Banks” by Sergio Correia, Stephen Luck, and Emil Verner.

https://www.newyorkfed.org/medialibrary/media/research/staff_reports/sr1117.pdf

From the abstract:

Why do banks fail? We create a panel covering most commercial banks from 1865 through 2023 to study the history of failing banks in the United States. Failing banks are characterized by rising asset losses, deteriorating solvency, and an increasing reliance on expensive non-core funding. Commonalities across failing banks imply that failures are highly predictable using simple accounting metrics from publicly available financial statements. Predictability is high even in the absence of deposit insurance, when depositor runs were common. Bank-level fundamentals also forecast aggregate waves of bank failures during systemic banking crises. Altogether, our evidence suggests that the ultimate cause of bank failures and banking crises is almost always and everywhere a deterioration of bank fundamentals. Bank runs can be rejected as a plausible cause of failure for most failures in the history of the U.S. and are most commonly a consequence of imminent failure. Depositors tend to be slow to react to an increased risk of bank failure, even in the absence of deposit insurance.

How does this report square with the Money View perspective?

During the post-symposium off week, we listen to an Odd Lots podcast discussion series from January in which Lev Menand and Josh Younger recount the history of Eurodollars.

From the description:

At more than $10 trillion outstanding, the eurodollar market is one of the biggest forms of shadow banking activity out there. It’s also one of the most interesting markets in existence, allowing non-US banks to hold and lend offshore dollars that effectively sit outside of the Federal Reserve’s control. But where did eurodollars actually come from? Why did the US allow these “shadow dollars” to exist at all? And what do eurodollars mean for the greenback’s role in the global financial system? In this special three-part series, we look back at the hidden history of the eurodollar market. The story is told by Columbia Law School Professor Lev Menand and Federal Reserve Bank of New York Policy Advisor Josh Younger. We start in the aftermath of World War II, when Europe is in the midst of an expensive reconstruction and the world is in the early throes of the Cold War. It’s here that the eurodollar is born.

• The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 1: Cold War Origins
• The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 2: Defending the Dollar System
• The Hidden History of Eurodollars, Part 3: Spinning Out of Control
• Lots more with Lev Menand on the Eurodollar Market Now

We discuss the Introduction and Parts 1 and 2 of A Crash Course on Crises by Brunnermeier and Reis.

• Chapter 1: Introduction

Part I. Growing Fragilities: the run-Up to Crises

• Chapter 2: Bubbles and Beliefs
• Chapter 3: Capital Infows and Their (Mis)allocation
• Chapter 4: Banks and Their Cousins

Part II. Crashes: Triggers and Amplifiers

• Chapter 5: Systemic Risk, Amplification, and Contagion
• Chapter 6: Solvency and Liquidity
• Chapter 7: The Nexus between the Private and Public Sectors
• Chapter 8: The Flight to Safety

We discuss Parts 3 and 4 of A Crash Course on Crises by Brunnermeier and Reis.

Part III. Policies and Recoveries

• Chapter 9: Exchange Rate Policies and the Speed of Recoveries
• Chapter 10: The New Conventional Monetary Policy
• Chapter 11: Fiscal Polciy and the Real Interest Rates

Part IV. Parting Words

• Chapter 12: Conclusion

• Calming the Storms: The Carry Trade, the Banking School and British Financial Crises Since 1825 by Charles Read (2023)
• An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets by Donald MacKenzie (2007)
• The Golden Age of the Quantity Theory by David Laidler (1991)
• The Wheels of Commerce by Fernand Braudel (selected chapters) (1979/1982)
• The Empire of Value: A New Foundation for Economics by Andre Orlean and M. B. Debevoise (2014)
• Beyond Banks: Technology, Regulation, and the Future of Money by Dan Awrey (2024)
• Capitalizing on Crisis: The Political Origins of the Rise of Finance by Greta Krippner (2011)
• Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit by Charles W. Calomiris and Stephen Haber (2014)
• Central Bank Capitalism: Monetary Policy in Times of Crisis by Joscha Wullweber (2024)
• Comparing Financial Systems by Franklin Allen and Douglas Gale (2000)
• Introduction to Central Banking by Ulrich Bindseil and Alessio Fota (2021)
• The Chairman: John J. McCloy & The Making of the American Establishment by Kai Bird (1992)
• The Bailout State: Why Governments Rescue Banks, Not People by Martijn Konings (2025)
• Central Banking Before 1800: A Rehabilitation by Ulrich Bindseil (2019)

• Minsky by Daniel H. Neilson (2019)
  2021-03-24 — Discussion Session 1
  2021-03-31 — Discussion Session 2
  2021-04-07 — Discussion with Daniel Neilson
• The Art of Central Banking (Chapter IV) by Ralph Hawtrey (1933)
  2021-04-21 — Discussion Session 1
  2021-05-05 — Discussion Session 2
  2021-05-26 — Discussion with David Glasner
• BIS Working Paper: Breaking free of the triple coincidence in international finance (2015)
  2021-05-19 — Discussion Session
• Making Money: Coin, Currency, and the Coming of Capitalism by Christine Desan (2014)
  2021-06-02 — Discussion Session 1
  2021-06-16 — Discussion Session 2
  2021-06-30 — Discussion Session 3
  2021-07-14 — Discussion with Christine Desan
• Global Domain of the Dollar: 8 Questions by Robert McCauley
  2021-07-07 — Discussion with Robert McCauley
• Money in a Theory of Finance by John G. Gurley, Edward S. Shaw (1960)
  2021-07-21 — Discussion Session 1
  2021-08-04 — Discussion Session 2
  2021-08-18 — Discussion Session 3
• BIS and Bank of England reports on Central Bank Digital Currencies
  2021-07-28 — Discussion Session
• The World in Depression, 1929-1939 by Charles P. Kindleberger (1973)
  2021-09-01 — Discussion Session 1
  2021-09-15 — Discussion Session 2
  2021-09-29 — Discussion Session 3
• The Rise of Carry by Jamie Lee et al (2019)
  2021-10-13 — Discussion Session 1
  2021-10-27 — Discussion Session 2
• The Money Interest and the Public Interest by Perry Mehrling (1998)
  2021-11-10 — Discussion Session 1 | Allyn Young
  2021-11-24 — Discussion Session 2 | Alvin Hanson
  2021-12-08 — Discussion Session 3 | Edward Shaw
• Controlling Credit by Eric Monnet (2018)
  2022-01-05 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-01-19 — Discussion Session 2
• The Menace of Fiscal QE by George Selgin (2020)
  2022-02-02 — Discussion Session
• The New Lombard Street by Perry Mehrling (2011)
  2022-02-23 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-03-09 — Discussion Session 2
  2022-03-23 — Discussion Session 3
• Fighting Financial Crises: Learning from the Past by Gary Gorton, Ellis Tallman (2021)
  2022-04-20 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-05-11 — Discussion Session 2
• Money and empire: The international gold standard, 1890-1914 by Marcello De Cecco (1974)
  2022-05-25 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-06-15 — Discussion Session 2
• Central Bank Cooperation 1924-31 by Stephen Clarke (1967)
  2022-06-22 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-07-06 — Discussion Session 2
• The Money Problem: Rethinking Financial Regulation by Morgan Ricks (2016)
  2022-07-27 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-08-10 — Discussion Session 2
  2022-08-17 — Discussion with Morgan Ricks
• The Crypto Banking System by Sébastien Derivaux (2022)
  2022-09-28 — Discussion with Sébastien Derivaux
• The Evolution of Central Banking: Theory and History by Stefano Ugolini (2017)
  2022-08-24 — Discussion Session 1
  2022-09-07 — Discussion Session 2
  2022-09-21 — Discussion Session 3
  2022-10-05 — Discussion with Stefano Ugolini
• A Financial History of Western Europe by Charles P. Kindleberger (1984, 1993)
  2022-10-19 — Discussion Session 1 | Part 1: Money
  2022-11-02 — Discussion Session 2 | Part 2: Banking
  2022-11-16 — Discussion Session 3 | Part 3: Finance
  2023-01-11 — Discussion Session 4 | Part 4: The Interwar Period
  2023-01-18 — Discussion Session 5 | Part 5: After World War II
• Money and Empire: Charles P. Kindleberger and the Dollar System by Perry Mehrling (2022)
  2022-11-30 — Discussion Session 1 | Part 1: Intellectual Formation, 1910–1948
  2022-12-14 — Discussion Session 2 | Part 2: International Economist, 1948–1976
  2022-12-21 — Discussion Session 3 | Part 3: Historical Economist, 1976–2003
  2022-12-21 — Discussion #1 with Perry Mehrling
  2023-01-04 — Discussion #2 with Perry Mehrling
• Bonds without Borders: A History of the Eurobond Market by Chris O’Malley (2015)
  2023-02-15 — Discussion Session 1
  2023-03-01 — Discussion Session 2
• Monetary Policy Operations and the Financial System by Ulrich Bindseil (2014)
  2023-03-15 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1-8)
  2023-03-29 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 9-12)
  2023-04-12 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 13-18)
• Capital Wars: The Rise of Global Liquidity by Michael J. Howell (2020)
  2023-04-26 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1-7)
  2023-05-10 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 8-14)
• A Market Theory of Money by John Hicks (1989)
  2023-05-24 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1-7)
  2023-06-07 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 8-15)
• The Currency of Politics: The Political Theory of Money from Aristotle to Keynes by Stefan Eich (2022)
  2023-06-28 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1 & 2)
  2023-07-19 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 3 & 4)
  2023-08-02 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 5 & 6)
  2023-08-14 — Discussion with Stefan Eich
• Fischer Black and the Revolutionary Idea of Finance by Perry Mehrling (2005)
  2023-08-22 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–5)
  2023-09-05 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 6–8)
  2023-09-19 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 9–11)
  2023-09-26 — Discussion with Perry Mehrling
• The Evolution of Central Banks by Charles Goodhart (1988)
  2023-10-03 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–6)
  2023-10-17 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 7–8, Appendix)
• The Repo Market: Shorts, Shortages, and Squeezes by Scott Skyrm (2023)
  2023-11-07 — Discussion Session 1 (pages 1–92)
  2023-11-21 — Discussion Session 2 (pages 93–186)
  2023-12-05 — Discussion Session 3 (pages 187–310) Part 1 — Part 2
  2023-12-12 — Discussion with Scott Skyrm From 39:20
• The Volatility Machine: Emerging Economies and the Threat of Financial Collapse by Michael Pettis (2001)
  2023-12-19 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–5)
  2024-01-02 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 6–10)
  2024-01-09 — Discussion with Michael Pettis
• International Capital Movements by Charles P. Kindleberger (1987)
  2024-01-16 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1 & 2)
  2024-01-30 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 3 & 4)
• A Political Theory of Money by Anush Kapadia (2024)
  2024-02-20 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–4)
  2024-03-05 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 5–7)
  2024-03-19 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 8–12)
  2024-03-26 — Discussion with Anush Kapadia
• The Rise of Central Banks: State Power in Financial Capitalism by Leon Wansleben (2023)
  2024-04-02 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–3)
  2024-04-23 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 4–6)
  2024-05-07 — Discussion with Leon Wansleben
• The Money Illusion: Market Monetarism, the Great Recession, and the Future of Monetary Policy by Scott Sumner (2021)
  2024-05-14 — Discussion Session 1 (Parts 1 & 2)
  2024-05-28 — Discussion Session 2 (Parts 3 & 4)
  2024-06-18 — Discussion Session 3 (Parts 5 & 6)
  2024-06-25 — Discussion with Scott Sumner
• Private Money and Public Currencies: The Sixteenth Century Challenge: The Sixteenth Century Challenge by Boyer-Xambeu, Deleplace, and Gillard (1994)
  2024-07-02 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–3)
  2024-07-16 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 4 & 5)
  2024-07-30 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 6, 7 & Conclusion)
• The Arena of International Finance by Charles A. Coombs (1976)
  2024-08-13 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1ー6)
  2024-08-27 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 7–12)
• The Bill on London: or The Finance of Trade by Bills of Exchange by Gillett Brothers (1952/1976)
  2024-09-17 — Discussion Session
• Birth of a Market: The U.S. Treasury Securities Market from the Great War to the Great Depression by Kenneth D. Garbade (2012)
  2024-10-01 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–10)
  2024-10-15 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 11–15)
  2024-10-29 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 16–24)
• A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961–2021 by Alan S. Blinder (2022)
  2024-11-12 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–7)
  2024-11-26 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 8–13)
  2024-12-10 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 14–19)
• Building a Ruin: The Cold War Politics of Soviet Economic Reform by Yakov Feygin (2024)
  2025-01-07 — Discussion Session 1 (Ch 1–3)
  2025-01-21 — Discussion Session 2 (Ch 4–6)
  2025-02-04 — Discussion Session 3 (Ch 7 & Afterword)

2023-04-05 Discussion of Silicon Valley Bank
2023-04-19 Institutional Cash Pools by Zoltan Pozsar (2011)
2023-05-03 BIS Bulletin #73: Stablecoins vs. Tokenized Deposits (May 3, 2023)
2023-07-05 The Credit–Money Hierarchy: a Republican , Egalitarian Appraisal by Aaron James (2023)
2023-07-26 Public Purpose Finance: The Government’s Role as Lender by Nadav Orian Peer (2020)
2023-10-24 Money and the Public Debt by Lev Menand and Joshua Younger (2023) | 1
2023-10-31 Money and the Public Debt by Lev Menand and Joshua Younger (2023) | 2
2023-11-14 ICMA Repo FAQ by Richard Comotto (2013/2019)
2023-11-28 Basis Trades and Treasury Market Illiquidity by Daniel Barth & Jay Kahn (2020)
2024-01-23 Capital flows and the current account by Borio and Disyatat (2015)
2024-02-13 The dual currency system of Renaissance Europe by Luca Fantacci (2008)
2024-02-27 BIS: Buy now, pay later: a cross-country analysis by Cornelli et al. (2023)
2024-03-12 The non-use of money in the Middle Ages by Bell, Brooks, and Moore (2017)
2024-04-09 The Central Role of Credit Crunches in Recent Financial History by Albert M. Wojnilower (1980)
2024-04-16 Measuring Equilibrium in the Balance of Payments by Charles P. Kindleberger (1969)
2024-04-30 The Rise and Risks of Private Credit — GFSR (April, 2024)
2024-06-04 BIS Working Paper No 1100: Getting up from the floor by Claudio Borio (May, 2023)
2024-06-11 The Offshore Dollar and US Policy by Robert McCauley (May, 2024)
2024-07-09 The (impossible) repo trinity: the political economy of repo markets by Daniela Gabor (2016)
2024-08-07 A Safe Haven for Hidden Risks (May 30, 2024) and Rate Transformation (November 4, 2023) by Elham Saeidinezhad
2024-08-20 The Collateral Supply Effect on Central Bank Policy by Carolyn Sissoko (2020)
2024-09-10 Monetary Policy Implications of Market Maker of Last Resort Operations by Anil K Kashyap (August 23, 2024)
2024-11-05 BIS Bulletin No 90: The market turbulence and carry trade unwind of August 2024 (August 27, 2024)
2024-11-19 Yen Carry Trade and the Subprime Crisis by Masazumi Hattori and Hyun Song Shin (2009)
2024-12-03 After the Allocation: What Role for the Special Drawing Rights System? by Pforr, Pape, and Murau (2022)
2025-01-14 Where Profits Come From by the Levy Forecasting Center by Levy, Farnham, & Rajan (2008/1997)
2025-01-28 The Broad Consequences of Narrow Banking by Matheus R. Grasseli and Alexander Lipton (2019)