Lombard Street: A Description of the Money Market

Financial observer and journalist Walter Bagehot sheds light on the world of banking in his influential tract

Written in response to a nineteenth-century banking crisis in England, Walter Bagehot's influential treatise was one of the first to clearly explain complex financial systems like international banking, currency, and corporate finance in clear and easy-to-understand language. Credit, Bagehot suggests, is based primarily on trust. When the banks lose the public's trust, the entire sy...