"U.S. Policymakers, Regulators, and Bankers Search for Common Ground, 1945-1985"

This paper discusses operational changes within commercial banks, particularly as associated with technological advances between 1945 and 1985. I am especially interested in financial economies of scale. The search for a common ground forced policymakers, regulators, and bankers to confront the issue of big banks vs. small banks and federal vs. state regulation. Federal Reserve policymakers and economists had difficulty evaluating the economies of scale issue and were forced to change their measurement methods and policy recommendations over time. These issues were closely linked to the shifting intellectual and ideological context of banking in an era in which all parties, public and private, to the banking system were rethinking their approaches to the size of banks.