Masters of the universal banking model

摘要

Does the name Alexander Gerschenkron ring a bell? For many readers of this column, I would imagine probably not. Among the Pantheon of famous practitioners of economics - a science that appears more dismal by the week when invoked by hyper-emotional UK politicians - his name is absent. But is he relevant today? Absolutely. Gerschenkron was a leading practitioner of the post-war Austrian School of economics and one of the central tenets of his lifetime work was that universal banks (he used Germany as an example) are a prerequisite for industrialisation. In other words, Mr Gerschenkron was a fan of the universal banking model.