The United States was considerably more unstable financially before the creation of the Federal Reserve. Panics, seasonal cash crunches, and a high rate of bank failures made the U.S. economy a riskier place for international and domestic investors to place their capital. The lack of dependable credit stunted growth in many sectors, including agriculture and industry. Americans early on, however, also did not want a central bank. They saw this as a model based on the Royal Crown and its Bank of England. New America did not want to be made in the image of Britain, and it also favored a more decentralized state-by-state approach to its political economy.