The Economics of Banking provides an accessible overview of banking theory and practice. It introduces readers to the building blocks of fundamental theories and provides guidance on state-of-the-art research, reflecting the dramatic changes in the banking industry and banking research over the past two decades. This textbook explores market failure and financial frictions that motivate the role of financial intermediaries, explains the microeconomic incentives and behavior of participants in banking, examines microlevel market stress caused by economic recessions and financial crises, and looks at the role of monetary authorities and banking regulators to reduce systemic fragility as well as to improve macroeconomic stability.