Rented a book on banking writen in 1983

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they still take deposits I guess. Probably had safes back then too. That might be about it

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What are you looking to get out of it? I don't think the concepts of CENTRAL banking have really changed all that much since 1983. Bernanke has certainly opened up the playbook in the past year in pretty creative ways, and if you're looking for an understanding of those mechanisms then I doubt that book will touch on them much (his moves have been very much outside the realms of normal central banking activity).

If you're looking for an understanding of how commercial banking operates, then as foshizzle noted, you're not going to find all that much. If you must read an 80s book to get some perspective on it, you might as well read Liar's Poker by Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball and The Blind Side). At least that one's entertaining, and will give you a glimpse of the early days of the mortgage securitization market that played such a huge role in this current mess. I can dig around for actual book recs emerging from this crisis if you're looking for more specifics on what the lay of the land is right now. (For instance, Goldman and Morgan Stanley and I think American Express and a few others who survived last year wound up having to turn themselves into bank holding companies amid the crisis. Someone else here can probably explain the implications of that far better than I can, but it's "kind of a big deal.")

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Honestly, I think "Liar's Poker" is entertaining and good but someone who doesn't understand the securities industry will get very wrong ideas from it. The book is written in a way that makes everyone involved seem like the caricature of a Wall Street rich cigar smoker who is having a blast at the public's expense. It's actually a great deal more complicated but you have to dig a little to see that.

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