Chart 1. Bank Capital Levels Fall Through the 1960s and 70s,
But Accord of 1988 Coincides with a Reversal of Trend
(FDIC-Insured Commercial Banks)
            Percent of Assets
Year No. of Institutions Total Securities Loans & Leases Total Assets Equity Capital Percent of Assets
Securities
Percent of Assets
Loans
Percent of Assets
Capital
1934 14,137 18,172 14,614 46,448 6,152 39.1 31.5 13.2
1935 14,123 20,116 14,719 50,926 6,210 39.5 28.9 12.2
1936 13,969 22,307 15,965 56,210 6,329 39.7 28.4 11.3
1937 13,795 20,476 16,750 54,212 6,404 37.8 30.9 11.8
1938 13,657 21,451 16,024 56,800 6,435 37.8 28.2 11.3
1939 13,534 22,428 16,866 63,147 6,524 35.5 26.7 10.3
1940 13,438 24,163 18,398 70,720 6,673 34.2 26.0 9.4
1941 13,427 28,032 21,262 76,827 6,842 36.5 27.7 8.9
1942 13,347 47,344 18,907 95,459 7,056 49.6 19.8 7.4
1943 13,274 64,678 18,843 112,246 7,454 57.6 16.8 6.6
1944 13,268 82,053 21,355 134,613 7,944 61.0 15.9 5.9
1945 13,302 96,066 25,769 157,582 8,631 61.0 16.4 5.5
1946 13,359 81,469 30,740 147,365 9,254 55.3 20.9 6.3
1947 13,403 76,712 37,592 152,773 9,707 50.2 24.6 6.4
1948 13,419 70,339 42,388 152,163 10,139 46.2 27.9 6.7
1949 13,436 75,824 43,047 155,319 10,628 48.8 27.7 6.8
1950 13,446 73,198 52,482 166,792 11,261 43.9 31.5 6.8
1951 13,455 73,673 58,184 177,449 11,905 41.5 32.8 6.7
1952 13,439 76,280 64,728 186,682 12,560 40.9 34.7 6.7
1953 13,432 76,851 68,227 191,062 13,243 40.2 35.7 6.9
1954 13,323 84,142 71,412 200,589 14,255 41.9 35.6 7.1
1955 13,237 77,240 83,628 209,145 14,980 36.9 40.0 7.2
1956 13,218 73,947 91,705 216,146 15,992 34.2 42.4 7.4
1957 13,165 75,330 95,577 221,534 17,059 34.0 43.1 7.7
1958 13,124 86,056 100,087 237,474 18,164 36.2 42.1 7.7
1959 13,114 78,582 112,867 243,422 19,206 32.3 46.4 7.9
1960 13,126 81,020 119,878 256,322 20,635 31.6 46.8 8.1
1961 13,115 89,662 127,414 277,374 22,101 32.3 45.9 8.0
1962 13,124 94,912 142,718 295,983 23,732 32.1 48.2 8.0
1963 13,291 97,472 158,928 311,790 25,193 31.3 51.0 8.1
1964 13,493 100,960 178,649 345,130 26,627 29.3 51.8 7.7
1965 13,547 103,651 203,061 375,394 28,252 27.6 54.1 7.5
1966 13,541 104,286 220,332 402,946 29,963 25.9 54.7 7.4
1967 13,517 123,264 237,518 450,713 32,022 27.3 52.7 7.1
1968 13,488 135,242 264,671 500,238 34,518 27.0 52.9 6.9
1969 13,473 122,019 286,752 524,665 37,687 23.3 54.7 7.2
1970 13,511 141,370 298,190 570,167 40,590 24.8 52.3 7.1
1971 13,612 163,681 328,226 633,573 44,062 25.8 51.8 7.0
1972 13,733 178,459 388,902 730,903 48,387 24.4 53.2 6.6
1973 13,976 179,401 455,197 820,515 54,957 21.9 55.5 6.7
1974 14,228 188,807 583,871 1,037,338 59,221 18.2 56.3 5.7
1975 14,384 225,639 590,111 1,086,409 63,854 20.8 54.3 5.9
1976 14,411 246,132 633,031 1,182,390 72,248 20.8 53.5 6.1
1977 14,412 257,261 729,723 1,339,392 79,280 19.2 54.5 5.9
1978 14,391 269,290 840,972 1,508,331 87,418 17.9 55.8 5.8
1979 14,364 284,146 944,809 1,692,080 97,242 16.8 55.8 5.8
1980 14,435 325,015 1,016,476 1,855,695 107,599 17.5 54.8 5.8
1981 14,408 339,674 1,131,312 2,029,151 118,241 16.7 55.8 5.8
1982 14,446 367,008 1,224,405 2,193,867 128,698 16.7 55.8 5.9
1983 14,460 424,198 1,316,854 2,341,955 140,459 18.1 56.2 6.0
1984 14,482 385,540 1,527,536 2,508,749 154,091 15.4 60.9 6.1
1985 14,407 439,407 1,648,697 2,730,672 169,118 16.1 60.4 6.2
1986 14,199 484,865 1,772,681 2,940,699 182,144 16.5 60.3 6.2
1987 13,703 520,713 1,844,380 2,999,949 180,651 17.4 61.5 6.0
1988 13,123 535,995 1,948,148 3,130,796 196,545 17.1 62.2 6.3
1989 12,709 558,639 2,073,326 3,299,362 204,823 16.9 62.8 6.2
1990 12,343 604,622 2,123,919 3,389,490 218,616 17.8 62.7 6.5
1991 11,921 691,385 2,064,049 3,430,682 231,699 20.2 60.2 6.8
1992 11,462 772,939 2,040,753 3,505,663 263,403 22.0 58.2 7.5
1993 10,958 836,710 2,156,483 3,706,165 296,491 22.6 58.2 8.0
1994 10,451 823,024 2,364,557 4,010,517 312,084 20.5 59.0 7.8
1995 9,940 810,872 2,608,816 4,312,676 349,571 18.8 60.5 8.1
1996 9,527 800,647 2,816,587 4,578,325 375,244 17.5 61.5 8.2
1997 9,142 871,868 2,975,215 5,014,841 417,706 17.4 59.3 8.3
1998 8,773 979,855 3,242,404 5,442,416 462,042 18.0 59.6 8.5
1999 8,579 1,046,530 3,495,332 5,735,079 479,610 18.2 60.9 8.4
2000 8,315 1,078,983 3,822,428 6,244,467 530,542 17.3 61.2 8.5
2001 8,080 1,171,924 3,892,583 6,551,650 593,883 17.9 59.4 9.1

Source: FDIC Historical Statistics on Banking