ABSTRACT
Our reconsideration of the New Deal financial regulatory framework and its role in American welfare state capitalism is not intended solely for those with a retrospective interest in the political economy of financial regulation. Since it shapes the ways in which our collective savings are deployed to promote various economic ends, financial intermediation is a perpetual concern for advocates of alternative economic agendas. Given the capacity of financial intermediaries to both help and hinder economic developments that differ from the status quo, the future pursuit of alternative economic agendas can benefit from insights gleaned from the New Deal’s experience with domestic banking reform as a component of a project of economic reform.
