Resolving Too-Big-to-Fail Banks in the United States

This report from George Mason University’s Mercatus Center provides a detailed, articulate analysis of US large-bank regulation and its historical context. Economists James R. Barth and Apanard Prabha address the “too-big-to-fail” (TBTF) issue and its impact on federal agencies’ policies and practices. The report examines how regulators have handled this problem before and considers how TBTF might again rear its head in the future. The authors also evaluate how the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and other regulatory changes might help or hurt bank resolution. Because it presents a complex issue in language that a layperson can understand and from which an expert might gain new insight, getAbstract recommends this levelheaded analysis to regulators, policy makers, financial industry professionals and anyone with a bank account.