Many of the data in charts and text were taken from the websites of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

ECONOMIST: Sources and acknowledgements

The first is financial: the euro zone needs a region-wide system of bank supervision, recapitalisation, deposit insurance and regulation.

ECONOMIST: The future of the European Union

At a minimum there must be a euro-zone-wide system of deposit insurance and oversight, with collective resources for the recapitalisation of endangered institutions and regional rules for the resolution of truly failed banks.

ECONOMIST: The future of the European Union