Large Bank Capital: There is More to Inflation Than the Price of Goods and Services

By Sean Campbell, Chief Economist and Head of Policy Research 
2/6/2025

As we navigate the start of 2025, it is a good idea to take stock of the state of large bank capital while also considering what reforms are needed to better align capital standards with economic growth. In this post, we document the significant inflation in large bank capital – in both dollar and percentage terms – since 2018.  We close by outlining key capital reforms that are necessary to ensure that large banks can continue to support a robust economy while safeguarding a resilient banking system.  Finally, the issues that we discuss below are treated in greater detail in our recent report “Observations and Recommendations for a New Administration and U.S. Economic Growth", and we refer folks to the report for a deeper dive on these issues.