Banking deregulation and the financial crisis in the US and France

Financial deregulation played a key role in changes on an international scale. This article examines the impact of deregulation on the business practices of banks. I compare the United States and France between the early 1980s and the 2007-2008 crisis and show the effects of similar policies in different contexts. I find that in both cases banks turned to new financing techniques, took greater risks, and were a major cause of the crisis. However, the process assumed different forms due to the initial contexts and the respective roles of banks and financial markets in the economy. The path used by each country has necessarily influenced the outcome. Comparative Economic Studies (2013) 55, 479-500. doi: 10.1057/ces.2013.13 Keywords: deregulation, US banks, French banking sector, financial crisis JEL Classifications: G01, G21, G28
INTRODUCTION A thoroughgoing process of deregulation began at the end of the 1970s in the United States and the United Kingdom before gradually spreading to the rest of the world. [...]