The Origins and Economic Impact of the First Bank of the United States, 1791–1797. By David Jack Cowen. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2000. Pp. xxix, 323. $70.00.

Extract

David Jack Cowen aims to clarify the economic history of early America by increasing our understanding of the “premier financial institution of the day, the First Bank of the United States” (p. 235). Cowen exploits archival material on the Bank of the United States (BUS), including new information about BUS balance sheets. He examines actions of the BUS through analysis of its balance sheets and ties this evidence to recent research that has generated information about securities (bond) prices. He also reviews contemporary correspondence as well as the minutes of BUS board meetings to glean information about motivation behind BUS activities. These bits and pieces are used to support Cowen's major interpretation of BUS actions in this era: that the BUS acted as an agent for the U.S. Treasury and, at the direction of various Treasury secretaries, acted as a central bank.