Economics of banks and financial markets (Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences 2022)

The article provides a brief introduction to the research on banks and finan- cial crises, for which the 2022 Nobel prize in economic sciences was awarded. Forty years ago, the works of Diamond and Dybvig highlighted the critical role banks play in maturity transformation and explained why this role makes banking crises a natural byproduct, thus providing a theoretical basis for modern banking regulation. The concurrent work by Bernanke on the Great Depression, the worst peace-time economic crisis in mature market economies, demonstrated that banks’ closures were a critical factor in making the depression so deep and prolonged.