ABSTRACT
Bernard Michel has depicted the changes that took place in the Austrian banking system at the beginning of the twentieth century when the Rothschild group lost its hegemony in this field of activities, partly because the Austrian Ministry of Finance favoured the public Postsparkasse. The banking system affected economic development in Austria-Hungary in several ways. Modifying Alexander Gerschenkron's interpretation, Richard L. Rudolph has pointed out that the Austrian banks were reluctant to invest in new industries or other than well-established firms. Trying to make the most of the skills Alexander Spitzmuller had acquired in Austrian politics, Sieghart tried to take a grip on some newspapers by utilizing the Bodencreditanstalt's financial potential and connections. The institutes' industrial activities led to the creation of clusters of companies closely connected with one or several of the major Austrian or Hungarian banks and to the cartelization of a number of branches, for example in the sugar industry.
