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Study Modeled on Harry Potter’s Magical Gringotts Bank Proves Bigger Is Better

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Bala Murali Krishna
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Harry Potter has been the subject of numerous case studies in campuses across the globe, notably for its brand building and marketing. But it might be the first time somebody has picked the books’ fictional bank called Gringotts as a model to study global finance.

Zachary Feinstein, a former intern at Millennium Partners LP and Lehman Brothers Inc. and now an assistant professor at the University of Washington in St. Louis, examined the widely debated “too big to fail” theory using a calibrated model of the “Wizarding economy.” But his conclusion after analyzing a model that breaks up Gringotts into five smaller banks called the Baby Goblins, is not quite magical.