This book shows how deregulation is transforming the size, structure,  and geographic range of U.S. banks, the scope of banking services,  and the nature of bank-customer relationships. Over the past two  decades the characteristics that had made American banks different  from other banks throughout the world--a fragmented geographical  structure of the industry, which restricted the scale of banks and  their ability to compete with one another, and strict limits on the kinds  of products and services commercial banks could offer--virtually  have been eliminated. Understanding the origins and persistence of  the unique banking regulations that defined U.S. banking for over a  century lends an important perspective on the economic and political  causes and consequences of the current process of deregulation.

Charles W. Calomiris is the Arthur F. Burns Scholar in Economics at AEI.