David Howarth and Scott James (2023): Bank politics: structural reform in comparative perspective

Abstract

This major study delivers an important contribution to the literature on comparative political economy. Authors David Howarth and Scott James, leading authorities in the field, managed to give us another excellent study of banking regulation that is very much worth reading. They start off with the reflection that the financial crisis of 2007–2008 has led to large bailout of banks. They note in particular various advanced economies whose government spent considerable sums of money to bail out the banks, especially those that were ‘too big to fail’ (TBTF). Using large amounts of public money to help the financial sector might give rise to public pressure to reform legislation one might think, but not all countries follow the same path. Thus, their question is to understand first and foremost what has happened in selected advanced economies that have considerably large banking sectors.