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Publications

Historical Publications

Last Updated: June 14, 2023

As part of its mission to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system, the FDIC publishes studies, reports, and histories that shed light on bank practices, FDIC processes, and important FDIC history.

Deposit Insurance: An Annotated Bibliography 1989-1999

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) published Deposit Insurance: An Annotated Bibliography, 1989-1999, a compilation of a decade's worth of deposit insurancerelated research into one comprehensive reference source. The Annotated Bibliography is part of the FDIC's ongoing effort to assist policy makers and regulators around the world in the design and operation of deposit insurance systems and to promote additional research into deposit insurance issues.

Read the Deposit Insurance: An Annotated Bibliography

A Brief History of Deposit Insurance

This publication provides information on the state deposit insurance programs that existed in the 1800s and early 1900s, the banking crisis of 1930s, and the establishment of the FDIC. It describes the FDIC's early years, its experience during and after World War II, the turbulent decades of the 1970s and 1980s, and the recovery achieved in the 1990s. Major legislative changes and economic influences are noted. Finally, deposit insurance issues are discussed that were current at the time of the FDIC-sponsored International Conference on Deposit Insurance in 1998. The document does not fully address the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s because the FDIC did not receive deposit insurance responsibility for S&Ls until 1989.

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Crisis and Response: An FDIC History, 2008–2013

Crisis and Response: An FDIC History, 2008–2013 reviews the experience of the FDIC during a period in which the agency was confronted with two interconnected and overlapping crises—first, the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, and second, a banking crisis that began in 2008 and continued until 2013. The history examines the FDIC's response, contributes to an understanding of what occurred, and shares lessons from the agency's experience.

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The First Fifty Years - A History of the FDIC 1933–1983

Published in 1984 on the FDIC's fiftieth anniversary, this publication includes information on the antecedents to federal deposit insurance, the creation of the FDIC in 1933-35, and a general history of the FDIC with a focus on the Corporation's insurance coverage and financial operations, its role in handling bank failures, and its function as a bank supervisor and examiner.

Read about the First Fifty Years of the FDIC

History of the Eighties

A study prepared by the FDIC's Division of Research and Statistics, presents:

  • A detailed analysis of the complex combination of causes (economic, financial, legislative and regulatory) that led to the extraordinary number of bank failures in the 1980s and early 1990s.
  • An evaluation of the legislative, regulatory and supervisory responses to those failures.
  • An assessment of the implications the experiences of the 1980s and early 1990s hold for deposit insurance and bank supervision in the future.

Read about the History of the Eighties

Managing the Crisis: The FDIC and RTC Experience

This two-volume report examines the challenges faced by the FDIC and the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC) in resolving troubled banks and thrifts during the financial crisis of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Read the Crisis Management Report

The S&L Crisis: A Chrono-Bibliography

[NOTE: This chronology and bibliography is provided solely for informational purposes. The inclusion or exclusion of a source constitutes neither an endorsement nor a rejection by the FDIC of the opinions expressed in that source.]

Review the S&L Crisis Chron-Bibliography