Národohospodářská fakulta Vysoké školy ekonomické v Praze, nám. Winstona Churchilla 4, 130 67 Praha 3 tel.: +420 224 095 521, fax: +420 224 221 718, URL: http://nf.vse.cz
REVIEW OF THE DIPLOMA THESIS SUPERVISOR
Student’s name and surname: Bc. Viktória Soročinová ...
Thesis title: Analysis of the (non-)functioning American banking system in the 1920s………
Thesis supervisor: Ing. Zdenka Johnson, Ph.D. ...
1 2 3 4
Assessment of the main aspects of the thesis:
1 Structure of the thesis (logical and systematic construction) ☐ ☐ ☒ ☐ 2 Goal of the thesis (unambiguity of formulation, adequacy) ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 Quality of the theoretical part ☐ ☒ ☐ ☐
4 Quality of the application/analytical/empirical part ☐ ☐ ☒ ☐ 5 Adequacy of the methods to the goal of the thesis ☐ ☐ ☒ ☐
6 Sources (topicality, relevance, frequency) ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐
7 Quality of conclusions, fulfillment of the goal of the thesis ☐ ☐ ☒ ☐ 8 Formal aspects (formatting, stylistics, references) ☐ ☒ ☐ ☐ Verbal assessment (describe the strongest and weakest aspects of the thesis; especially in case of a low assessment 3-4, concrete reproaches need to be expressed):
Basically, the structure of the thesis is logical and systematic and corresponds with the topic and concept of the diploma thesis. Unfortunately, the theoretical, more descriptive chapters are longer than the necessary 1/3 of the thesis. This shortcoming translates into unnecessarily shorter analytical part. The thesis goals are clearly defined in the introduction as a testable scientific hypothesis and related research questions. The presented research methods are adequate to the topic and the goals. Regrettably, the solution procedure does not fully correspond with these methods and as a consequence analytical part misses a more profound analysis of the topic.
The theoretical portion has been written comprehensively and thoroughly describes the 1920s economic development, yet I believe the first chapter should have been shorter and more focused on the issues connected with the banking sector. Chapter 2 might have shown more of the real nature of the monetary policy in the 1920s.
The analytical part of the thesis, consisting of chapter 3 and 4, includes major features and moments of the banking system development in the 1920s. Still, the author does not bring anything new with the presented analysis. This hasty analysis is unfortunately not deep or
innovative. Unluckily, the author decided to not use available statistical resources sufficiently and prove her research concepts with their data.
The author works neatly with the resource citations for the most part, even though there are sporadic references to the chosen sources missing, especially concrete pages. As well as there are some minor formatting issues in the text within some figures and paragraphs.
Evaluating the submitted diploma thesis, it is necessary to appreciate the choice of a topic. The topic of the banking sector development in the 1920s is very attractive and relevant for much of today’s economic research on mechanisms of Great Depression emergence. At least, I appreciate author’s attempt at the multidisciplinary approach presented in the text which is based on relevant and up-to-date literature. Moreover, in Czech scientific literature the topic has not been explored sufficiently. The author satisfactorily verified the validity of the hypothesis and found answers to research questions, yet I submit that there is more space for a deeper and more substantiated analysis. Taking all this into account, the conclusions of the thesis are valid, but with little value added.
Complex assessment (it is necessary to state whether the thesis complies with the Methodological guidelines of the Faculty of Economics, University of Economics, Prague as concerns the quality of the content, the extent, and formal requirements and whether the thesis is being recommended to the defense or not; the thesis can also be nominated to a special award, etc.):
The diploma thesis meets the basic content, extent, and formal requirements defined by the Methodical guidelines for writing bachelor and master theses at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Prague.
Despite my critical comments above, I recommend this excellent diploma thesis to defense before the examination committee.
Questions to the defense:
1. Define the Bank of the United States development in the 1920s since this bank’s failure was one of the crucial moments at the beginning of the banking crisis in 1931.
2. What were the main reasons for the fact that numerous banking failures in the 1920s did not translate into a nationwide banking crisis?
Suggested grade: Good
Date: June 11, 2021
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Thesis supervisor’s signature
Instructions to the reviewer: The reviewer needs to fill in the verbal assessment which is adequately informative with respect to the purpose of the defense.
Assessment scale: 1 = excellent, 2 = very good, 3 = good, 4 = failed.
