Focuses on the recent changes in the US banking system, analyzing the reasons for them and proposing solutions to problems currently faced by the industry. The author shows the lack of public confidence in banking wrought by such crises as the bailout of the savings and loan industry. He fully examines the current banking crisis against the background of historical changes in US banking, demonstrating that banking change in this country is most often crisis driven - due primarily to the failure of the legislature and the government to solve major problems before they become major crises. The considerable influence of politics on the US banking system is also explored in depth.