Banking Panics During the Great Depression

Research Director

Professor Gary Richardson
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (949) 824-5089
Office: 3127 Social Sciences Plaza A

Meetings

When: Thursdays from 6-7pm
Where: SSPA 3128?
Missed a meeting? Meeting Minutes

Banking Panics During the Great Depression
A financial history research project at UC Irvine


During the Great Depression of 1929 to 1939, one third of the banks in the United States suspended operations. The banks failed during three gigantic panics. Economists and historians have long wondered why these panics occurred and how they affected the economy. This project seeks to answer those questions.

The focus of the project is a large set of data that I gathered in the National Archives of the United States during the last two years. We are computerizing and analyzing that data. We hope to understand the origins and consequences of the bank panics during the Great Depression and to design policies that will prevent similar catastrophes from occurring in the future.