Since the nineteenth century, there has been an accepted distinction between financial systems that separate commercial and investment banking and those that do not. This comprehensive collection aims to establish how and why financial systems develop, and how knowledge of financial differentiation in the nineteenth century may afford insight into the development of contemporary banking structure.

This book poses a systematic challenge to Alexander Gerschenkron's 1950s thesis on universal banks. With contributions from leading scholars such as Ranald Michie and Jaime Reis, this well...

Professor Forsyth provides an important new interpretation of the crisis of democracy in Italy after World War I. He argues that liberal governments after 1918 failed to balance the conflicting claims of great power conflicts, social welfare, economic growth, and macroeconomic stability in a harsh economic environment. Postwar liberal leaders put stability ahead of the redistributive social policies that would have been necessary to secure broad electoral support: this failure led to parliamentary deadlock and Mussolini's seizure of power.

Professor Forsyth provides an important new interpretation of the crisis of democracy in Italy after World War I. He argues that liberal governments after 1918 failed to balance the conflicting claims of great power conflicts, social welfare, economic growth, and macroeconomic stability in a harsh economic environment. Postwar liberal leaders put stability ahead of the redistributive social policies that would have been necessary to secure broad electoral support: this failure led to parliamentary deadlock and Mussolini's seizure of power.