Senior Economist
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
1 Memorial Drive
Kansas City, MO 64198
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Kenneth Spong is a Senior Economist in the Banking Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Mr. Spong has been with the Federal Reserve since 1973 and is engaged in research on a variety of topics related to the regulation, supervision, and performance of banks and other financial institutions. This research includes: corporate governance and the ownership and management structure of banks, large banks and too-big-to-fail concerns, small business lending, interstate banking, and home financing and homeownership issues among low-income households. This research has been published in a variety of Federal Reserve, academic and banking trade publications. In addition, Mr. Spong has written a book on bank regulation—Banking Regulation: Its Purposes, Implementation, and Effects—which is now in its fifth edition.

Mr. Spong has a MA in economics from the University of Chicago and a BA in mathematics and economics from the University of Kansas.

• "Tax Incentives for Homeownership and the Provision of Local Public Services"
  with Kelly D. Edmiston. Public Finance Review, vol. 40, January 2012, pp. 116-144
• "Bank Ownership and Risk Taking: Improving Corporate Governance in Banking after the Crisis"
  with Richard J. Sullivan, Chapter 7 in Research Handbook on International Banking and Governance, edited by James R. Barth, Chen Lin, and Clas Wihlborg, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, 2012.
• "Federal Housing Policies and the Recent Financial Crisis"
  with Ronnie J. Phillips, Chapter 9 in Socially Responsible Finance and Investing, edited by John Nofsinger and Kent Baker, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2012.
• "The Kansas City Plan"
  with Thomas M. Hoenig and Charles S. Morris, Chapter 10 in Ending Governement Bailouts As We Know Them, edited by Kenneth E. Scott, George Shultz, and John B. Taylor, Hoover Institution Press, 2010, pp. 189-215.
• "Manager Wealth Concentration, Ownership Structure, and Risk in Commercial Banks"
  with Richard J. Sullivan. Journal of Financial Intermediation, April 2007, pp. 229-48
• "Corporate Governance and Bank Performance"
  In Benton E. Gup, ed., Corporate Governance in Banking: A Global Perspective. (Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2007)
• "The Income Geography of Tax Incentives for Home Ownership: Evidence from the Kansas City Metropolitan Area"
  with Kelly Edmiston. National Tax Association Proceedings (99th Annual Conference on Taxation), 2006, pp. 263-271
• "The Effect of Wealth and Ownership on Firm Performance"
  with Richard J. Sullivan. Journal of Financial Transformation, December 2005, pp. 39-47
• "The US Financial Sector: Regulatory Issues"
  In Alan M. Rugman and Gavin Boyd, eds., Alliance Capitalism for the New American Economy. (Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar, 2003)
• "Banking Regulation"
  In Malcolm Warner, ed., International Encyclopedia of Business & Management. (London, UK: Thomson Learning, 2002)
• "Who’s Minding the Store? Motivating and Monitoring Hired Managers at Small, Closely Held Commercial Banks"
  with Robert DeYoung and Richard J. Sullivan. Journal of Banking and Finance 25(7), July 2001, pp. 1209-1242
• "Narrow Banks: An Alternative Approach to Banking Reform"
  In Dimitri B. Papadimitriou, ed., Stability in the Financial System. (London, UK: MacMillan Press, Ltd., 1996)
• "How a Changing Economy Can Impact Loan Losses"
  with Catharine Lemieux. Journal of Agricultural Lending 6(3), Spring 1993, pp. 30-35
• "Potential Competition and the Factors Influencing Banking Concentration"
  with Thomas G. Watkins. Review of Industrial Organization 2(2), 1985, pp. 95-105
• "Potential Competition and Bank Acquisitions in Texas"
  with Thomas G. Watkins. Southwest Journal of Business and Economics 1(4), Summer 1984, pp. 1-10
• "An Examination of Individual Bank Growth"
  with Thomas Hoenig. Journal of Bank Research 7,Winter 1977, pp. 303-310
  

• Banking Regulation: Its Purposes, Implementation, and Effects
  Kansas City: Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Fifth Edition, 2000 (Previous editions – 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994)
• Banking Regulation: Its Purposes, Implementation, and Effects
  (Chinese Translation). Shanghai: Fudan Press, 2008
• "Financial Stability Reports: How Useful During a Financial Crisis?"
  with Jim Wilkinson and Jon Christensson. Economic Review, First Quarter 2010
• "Master plan: Banks can learn from Greensburg’s recovery"
  with Eric Robbins. TenMagazine, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Fall 2008), pp. 8-15
• "Industrial Loan Companies: A Growing Industry Sparks a Public Policy Debate"
  with Eric Robbins. Economic Review 92(4), Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Fourth Quarter 2007), pp. 41-71
• "The Changing Banking Structure: What Expansion Strategies Are Community Banks Adopting?"
  with James Harvey. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (August 2007), pp. 1-15
• "Home Financing in Kansas City and Its Contribution to Low- and Moderate-Income Neighborhood Development"
  with James Harvey. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (February 2007), pp. 1-19
• "House and Home: The Surge in Denver’s Low- and Moderate-Income Mortgage Lending"
  with James Harvey. Ten Magazine, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Fall 2005), pp 26-31
• "Home Financing for Low- and Moderate-Income Borrowers: What Are the Trends in Denver?"
  with James Harvey. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (October 2005), pp. 1-16
• "Low- and Moderate-Income Home Financing: What Are the Trends in Kansas City?"
  with James Harvey. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (October 2003), pp. 1-14
• "Community Bank Performance in Slower Growing Markets: Finding Sound Strategies for Success"
  with Forest Myers. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (October 2003), pp. 15-30
• "The Decline in Core Deposits: What Can Banks Do?"
  with James Harvey. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (December 2001), pp. 35-48
• "The Outlook for the U.S. Banking Industry: What Does the Experience of the 1980s and the 1990s Tell Us?"
  with Richard J. Sullivan. Economic Review 84(4), Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Fourth Quarter 1999), pp. 65-83
• "How Does Ownership Structure and Manager Wealth Influence Risk? A Look at Ownership Structure, Manager Wealth, and Risk in Commercial Banks"
  with Richard J. Sullivan. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (December 1998), pp. 15-40
• "Small Business Lending by Commercial Banks in Colorado, 1994-1996"
  with Richard D. Johnson, Ronnie J. Phillips, and Richard J. Sullivan. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (May 1998), pp. 17-33
• "The Changing Structure of Banking: A Look at Traditional and New Ways of Delivering Banking Services"
  with James Harvey. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (May 1998), pp. 1-16
• "What Makes a Bank Efficient?—A Look at Financial Characteristics and Bank Management and Ownership Structure"
  with Robert DeYoung and Richard J. Sullivan. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (December 1995), pp. 1-19
• "Successful Strategies in Interstate Bank Acquisitions"
  with Richard J. Sullivan. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (December 1995), pp. 21-37
• "The Relationship Between Loan Classifications and Losses: The Effects of a Changing Economy"
  with Catharine Lemieux. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (December 1992), pp. 1-14
• "The Performance of Banks Acquired on an Interstate Basis"
  with John D. Shoenhair. Financial Industry Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (December 1992), pp. 15-32
• "Interstate Bank Expansion: A Comparison Across Individual States"
  with John D. Shoenhair. Banking Studies, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1990 Annual Issue), pp. 1-23
• "Assistance for Problem Banks"
  Banking Studies, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1988 Special Issue), pp. 12-23
• "The Death of a Bank: Assuring an Orderly Transition"
  with Ralph E. Mires. Banking Studies, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1988 Special Issue), pp. 24-33
• "Interstate Banking – What are the Competitive Effects?"
  with Thomas Watkins. Banking Studies, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Summer 1985), pp. 8-19
• "One-bank Holding Company Debt: Regulatory Policy and Experience"
  with Thomas Hoenig. Banking Studies, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1984 Annual Issue), pp. 1-10
• "Bank Profits in a Changing Environment"
  with Robert Craig West and Forest Myers. Banking Studies, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (1984 Annual Issue), pp. 11-21
• "Bank Examination Classifications and Loan Risk"
  with Thomas Hoenig. Economic Review 64(6), Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (June 1979), pp. 15-25
• "The Payment of Interest on Member Bank Reserves"
  with Thomas Hoenig. Proceedings from a Conference on Bank Structure and Competition, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (April 27-28, 1978), pp. 257-277

• "Resolution Process for Financial Companies that Pose Systemic Risk To the Financial System and Overall Economy"
  with Thomas M. Hoenig and Charles S. Morris, September 2009
• "Recovering from a Tornado: The Bankers’ Response and How to Draft Effective Emergency Plans"
  with Eric Robbins. The RMA Journal, July-August 2008
• "Private Ownership and its Influence on Bank Performance"
  with Richard J. Sullivan. The Chinese Banker, April 2007
• "Diminishing Liquidity: How the Decline in Core Deposits is Affecting Community Banks"
  with Jim Harvey. Independent Banker, May 2002
• "The Relationship Between Loan Classifications and Losses: The Effects of a Changing Economy"
  with Catherine Lemieux. The Examiner, Winter 1993
• "Term Loans – Why Are They a Problem for Borrowers and Lenders During Inflation?"
  The Journal of Commercial Bank Lending, May 1983
• "The Paradox of Record Bank Earnings and Declining Capital"
  with Larry Meeker and Forest Myers. The Magazine of Bank Administration, October 1980
• "Bank Loans and the Economy"
  with Thomas Hoenig. The Examiner, Spring 1980

• "Kansas Banking in the 1930s: The Deposit Insurance Choice and Implications for Public Policy"
  with Kristen Regehr, Third Quarter 2012

• "What Can Financial Stability Reports Tell Us About Macroprudential Supervision?"
  with Jon Christensson and Jim Wilkinson, RWP 11-15