9 After the panic ended, there was a broad sense that reform was needed, although consensus on the exact nature of that reform was elusive. Some called for an institution similar in structure to the Bank of England at the time, with centralized power, owned and operated by the banking system. Some wanted control to be lodged with the federal government in Washington instead.
Others proposed that power be distributed to regional bodies with no central or coordinating board. Still others resisted any sort of central bank. 10 This debate reflected the many and diverse interests in the United States-farmers, laborers, businessmen, small-town bankers, big-city bankers, technocrats, populists, and more--that experienced different conditions across a large geographic expanse.