New data covering 23 countries reveal that banking crises of the Great Depression coincided with a sharp international increase in deposits at savings institutions and life insurance. Deposits fled from commercial banks to alternative forms of savings. This fueled a credit crunch since other institutions did not replace bank lending. While asset prices fell, savings held in savings institutions and life insurance companies increased as a share of GDP and in real terms. These findings provide new explanations for the fall in credit and aggregate demand in the 1930s. They illustrate the need to consider nonbank financial institutions when studying banking crises.

中文翻译：

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大萧条是储蓄过剩


涵盖 23 个国家/地区的新数据显示，大萧条时期的银行业危机与储蓄机构和人寿保险的国际存款急剧增加相吻合。存款从商业银行逃往其他形式的储蓄。这加剧了信贷紧缩，因为其他机构没有取代银行贷款。虽然资产价格下跌，但储蓄机构和人寿保险公司持有的储蓄占 GDP 的比重和实际价值都有所增加。这些发现为 1930 年代信贷和总需求下降提供了新的解释。它们说明了在研究银行危机时需要考虑非银行金融机构的必要性。