The preceding discussion has dealt with the bank–industry relationship at an often extreme degree of disaggregation. In the final chapters the relationship will be discussed at a much higher level of aggregation, with more attention to the role of the entire banking system. To begin with, the role of the banks in mobilizing and utilizing capital will be touched upon, then some remarks will be made about the effects of the policies and practices of the banks upon industrial development.

The mobilization of capital

Although the purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of banks and industry, rather than to assess the nature of the development of the entire money supply, something must be said of the degree to which the banks were able to marshall funds and savings in the most general sense of the word. In the initial stages of industrialization, the influx of foreign capital undoubtedly played an important role in aiding industrialization, particularly in the expansion of the rail network. In the period under discussion in this study, direct foreign investment, with the exception of investment in the railroads, appears to have played a relatively minor direct role in the development of either banking or industry in Austria as a whole, and particularly in the Czech Lands. If foreign investment in the banks was not a major factor, the Austrian and Czech banks were still able to secure large sums with which to work. Several aspects of this acquisition process deserve mention.