City of Toronto Archives
R . B . Bennett , Prime Minister of Canada from 1930 – 1935 , opens the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto , August 26 , 1932 .
of creating a privately owned central bank . The two most knowledgeable Canadians voted against its creation .
The approach to banking in the United States and Canada is often compared and contrasted . A key consideration in this discourse revolves around the trade-offs between fostering innovation and competition , versus mitigating moral hazard through regulatory measures . One must consider whether to endorse a system that prioritizes bank innovation and competitive growth , albeit with a tendency toward government bailouts during crises , or to support a regulatory framework that seeks to address moral hazard but potentially stifles innovation and competition .
The United States chose banking innovation and competitive growth and has maintained its status as the leader in the global financial system and seen fruitful results . However , the country has also been rewarded with crisis and a burden on the taxpayer to bail out the system .
Canada chose to place the onus on the bankers and the banking system from the beginning until the late 1960s , and it has remained one of the most stable financial systems globally .
Joe Martin is the founding and current president of the Canadian Business History Association / L ’ Association Canadienne pour L ’ Histoire des Affaires and co-author of From Wall Street to Bay Street : The Origins and Evolution of American and Canadian Finance .
Phyllis Scully , a graduate of the University of Toronto , has completed an honors thesis and currently works at Canada ’ s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions , performing horizon risk research .
Sources
Calomiris , Charles W . and Stephen H . Haber . Fragile by Design : The Political Origins of
Banking Crises & Scarce Credit . Princeton University Press . 2014 .
Goldin , Claudia and Gary D . Libecap , editors . The Regulated Economy : A Historical Approach to Political Economy . University of Chicago Press . 1994 .
Kobrak , Christopher and Joe Martin . From Wall Street to Bay Street : The Origins and Evolution of American and Canadian Finance . Rotman-UTP Publishing . 2018 .
Kyer , C . Ian . From Next Best to World Class : The People and Events That Have Shaped the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation , 1867 – 2017 . Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation . 2017 .
Langlois , Richard N . The Corporation and the Twentieth Century : The History of American Business Enterprise . Princeton University Press . 2023 .
Von Mises , Ludwig . A Critique of Interventionism . Arlington House . 1977 .
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