The New Crisis for the New Century: Some Observations on the 'Big - Picture' Lessons of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008

Abstract:     
Two key factors made the financial crisis of 2008-09 qualitatively different from all prior crises and panics. First, it was the world's first truly global financial crisis. Second, it was a crisis rooted fundamentally in the successes of financial innovation and an unprecedented complexity of financial products, which resulted from such innovation. Each of these unique characteristics of the current crisis has major implications from the perspective of regulatory reform in the financial services sector, both domestically and on the international level. This essay sketches in broad strokes some of these high-level implications.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Keywords: financial crisis, financial regulation, regulatory reform, financial innovation

Accepted Paper Series