 A significant difference between the European and U.S. banking systems was the absence of a central bank in the United States . European states were able to extend the supply of money during periods of low cash reserves . The belief that the U.S. economy was vulnerable without a central bank was not new . Early in 1907 , banker Jacob Schiff of Kuhn , Loeb & Co. warned in a speech to the New York Chamber of Commerce that " unless we have a central bank with adequate control of credit resources , this country is going to undergo the most severe and far reaching money panic in its history " . 
