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We offer new evidence on the dynamics of wealth holding in the United States over the Civil War decade based on a hand-linked random sample of wealth holders drawn from the 1860 census. Despite the wealth shock caused by emancipation, we find that patterns of wealth mobility were broadly similar for northern and southern residents in 1860. Looking at the determinants of individual wealth holding in 1870, we find that the elasticity with respect to 1860 wealth was quite low in both regions – consistent with high levels of wealth mobility.

Using individual balance sheet data from the state banks in one state that was deeply impacted by the 1893 crisis, this article presents evidence that correspondent networks played an important role in transmitting the crisis. In particular, the unexpected closure of a single large national bank in Kansas City considerably increased the probability of suspension among the state banks that were connected to it through the correspondent networks. This episode thus illustrates how contagion can spread through interbank networks and sheds new light on the nature of the 1893 crisis.

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Wealth mobility in the United States: 1860–1870

Bank networks and suspensions in the 1893 panic: evidence from the state banks and their correspondents in Kansas

Old Wheelways: Traces of Bicycle History on the Land. By L. McCullough Robert. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2015. Pp. xv, 367. $34.95, cloth.

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3 results

Wealth mobility in the United States: 1860–1870

Bank networks and suspensions in the 1893 panic: evidence from the state banks and their correspondents in Kansas

Old Wheelways: Traces of Bicycle History on the Land. By L. McCullough Robert. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2015. Pp. xv, 367. $34.95, cloth.