Deposit Insurance in the United States: Evaluation and Reform

Abstract

The federal deposit insurance system of the United States was instituted as a result of severe financial crises in the United States and was intended to prevent the recurrence of some of the evils of such crises, specifically those resulting from bank deposit losses. Since the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was established in 1934, the United States has not experienced banking panics or harmful effects on the economy due to widespread destruction of bank deposits. As a result, there is a fairly widespread feeling that the present deposit insurance system has been a success. If prevention of panics and large-scale deposit destruction are the only criteria for success, this judgment may be justified, although, if the insurance system uses resources, it must be proved that panics and deposit losses would be unacceptably frequent or large in its absence.