Finance: Past, Present and Future

Along with Sean Kenny (Lund), I've written a working paper looking at the stability of Irish banking from 1797 to 1826. The paper is entitled "Wildcat Bankers or Political Failure? The Irish Financial Pantomime, 1797-1826". You can access the paper here at the Queen's University Centre for Economic History website.  Abstract : Using a new biography of banks, we examine the stability of Irish banking from 1797 to 1826 by constructing a failure rate series. We find that the ultimate cause of the frequent and severe banking crises was the crisis-prone structure of the banking system, which was designed to benefit the political elite. There is little evidence to suggest that wildcat banking or the failure of the Bank of Ireland to act as a lender of last resort were to blame. We also find that the main economic effect of the episodic crises was major diminutions in the money supply.   

The first lesson of academic leadership is that it takes nearly 12 months to catch up on a large backlog of research. This is my reason (excuse) for not blogging since I stepped down as Head of Queen's Management School. When I stepped down, I indicated that I would write a series of posts which reflected on my time as Head. However, I underestimated the sheer effort it would take to kickstart the various research projects which I was involved with.    If you are thinking of taking on a leadership role in a university, it will have a substantial effect on your research productivity. I went into the role knowing this. The way I coped was to see my research as a hobby - something that helped me relax and that I tinkered at on Saturdays and in my spare time. I also went each summer to Cambridge MA to get the head space and peace to work on research. If you take on a leadership role in another type of organisation, you will be managing and leading a team. Your time will n...