Checking on banks

Anne Khademian argues that downsizing government activities through consolidation does not guarantee better performance. Consolidation implies agreement on the best way to perform a task, but each of the three banking agencies has a unique management style and level of autonomy growing out of its history and politics. For example, the Fed has a high level of expertise and autonomy, the OCC is known for innovation, and the FDIC places priority on examiner training. Khademian maintains that the jurisdictional overlap among the agencies reflects an essential tension between accountability and autonomy. And a new consolidated agency would destroy that tension. . Khademian contends that in the rush to consolidate, we might destroy administrative systems that have real benefits or provide important lessons about implementing government programs and risk creating new "super agencies" whose systems of accountability and operational autonomy are at odds with expectations for performance. Before we can improve government performance, we need to know why agencies behave the way they do. This book offers a framework for understanding agency behavior. In the case of banking, Khademian argues that the diverse approaches to supervision provide an important balance in the system that has worked to keep U.S. banks among the safest and strongest in the world.