Banking

A compact survey explains the services banks provide — safekeeping, payments, short- and long-term lending, and intermediating investments — and distinguishes commercial from investment banking. It outlines commercial operations such as commercial paper and discounting, checking account practice, note issuance, collections, and domestic and foreign exchange, then analyzes practical problems of cash supply, loan selection, interest rates, safeguards against unsound practices and inflation, and service efficiency. It examines American institutions and reform proposals, compares English, French, German, and Canadian systems, and reviews investment banking forms including savings institutions, trust companies, bond houses, land banks, stock exchanges, and remaining structural defects.