1. POSTER TEMPLATE BY: www.PosterPresentations.com Bank Failure and Its Causes: A Work in Progress Thomas Huffman, Department of Economics, College of Arts and Sciences and Honors College Interim Faculty Mentor: Susan Eve, Department of Applied Gerontology, College of Public Affairs and Community Service and Honors College Why Does It Matter? By researching bank failures, we learn more about common characteristics of a failed bank (Clarke). This knowledge enables us to integrate procedures for preventing bank failures and creating a more stable global economy. This stabilization will Allow for steady growth and development of society across the world; Help individuals in all nations achieve a better standard of living; and Protect the common working class from losing its life savings in a financial collapse. Furthermore, modern economies are heavily dependent on the banking industry, banks playing a vital role in the exchange of funds (Kaufman). Because of this fact, a downturn in the banking industry wreaks havoc in all sectors of the market, both on a national and global level (Kaufman). Bank Failures Are Not a Thing of the Past Abstract Modern society has become dependent on the globalized banking industry, with many bank-holding companies conducting commerce in every inhabited continent. Businesses depend on this market to provide funds for ventures and development, aiding society to grow as a whole. However this ensures the smallest upset in this world-wide banking market can wreak havoc in all areas of the globe. My research conducted on the factors of bank failure, focusing on the primary influences and characteristics of a collapse, will help fill this gap, enabling us to stabilize and preserve the banking industry and world economy. I will accomplish this research by conducting a survey of major bank failures throughout world history. This will enable us to deduce common factors that contribute to a bank failure, allowing us to reform and prevent collapses. This Is a Global Issue Works Cited Bank Failure in America What Are the Effects? Acknowledgments Widespread bank failures have had devastating effects on countries throughout history. Below are listed selected collapses and their effects on their society. Victorian Bank Collapse (Alborn) Bank failure led to a rethinking of the social norms Led to widespread ending of class divisions 1930’s United States (Elmus) Bank closings wiped out deposits, intensifying horrendous living conditions Failings created sense of distrust against bankers, widening class divisions and slowing economic progress 1990’s Africa (Brownbridge) Delayed economic development Disrupted socio-economic class structure Globalization is a fact of life, but I believe we have underestimated its fragility. - Kofi Annan (ThinkExist) The negative side to globalization is that it wipes out entire economic systems and in doing so wipes out the accompanying culture. -Peter L. Berger (ThinkExist) Globalization is a fact of economic life. - Carlos Salinas de Gortari (ThinkExist) I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principles of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale. -Thomas Jefferson (Brainy Quotes) Quotes on Globalization and Banking Alborn, Timothy L. "The moral of the failed bank: Professional plots in the Victorian money market." Victorian Studies 38.2. Winter 1995. “Bank Failure in England.” Affordable Housing Institute. March 4, 1988.. Brainy Quotes©. 2008. March 4, 2008.. Brownbridge, Martin. "Financial Distress in Local Banks in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia: Causes and Implications for Regulatory Policy." Development Policy Review 16.2.June 1998. Clarke, R. L. “Bank Failures.” Vital Speeches of the day. March 1, 1988. “The Earth.” New Free Downloads. March 4, 2008.. “A Great Depression Bank Failure.” Kuro5Hin. March 4, 2008.. Kaufman, George G. "Bank failures, systemic risk, and bank regulation.“ CATO Journal 16.1. Spring/Summer96 1996. ThinkExist©. 2006. March 4, 2008.. Wicker, Elmus. "A Reconsideration of the Causes of the Banking Panic of 1930.“ Journal of Economic History 40.3. Sep. 1980. Northern Rock depositors are lining up to retrieve their funds after the bank’s failure in 2007. I would like to thank the following individuals for making this research experience possible: Dr. Wendy Wilkins, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Gloria Cox, Dean, Honors College Dr. Warren Burggren, Dean, College of Arts and Science and especially my interim mentor, Dr. Susan Eve, Department of Applied Gerontology.