Showing papers by "James R. Barth published in 1989"

Thrift deregulation and federal deposit insurance

Abstract: The federal insurance funds were designed to cover all insured deposits but lacked a rule specifying how these deposits would be covered if a crisis occurred that swamped either insurance fund. The Congress apparently accepted the argument that strict enforcement and regulation could be used to reduce the probability of failure and thereby avoid large losses to the insurance fund. This flaw in the federal deposit insurance system has permitted insolvent institutions to remain open. The very poor performance of these institutions has skewed aggregate thrift performance in recent years, masking the performance of solvent institutions. A protracted debate has ensued centering on the cost of resolving troubled thrifts and whether healthy thrifts can pay these costs. This debate has drawn attention away from the potential value of the thrift charter.