A Decade Later, Understanding 2008 Financial Crisis

Abstract

Ten years and a great deal of study by economists and others leave us still lacking a consensus on (a) what caused the financial crisis of 2008, (b) whether the reforms it generated will be enough to prevent another systemic collapse of the financial system, and (c) whether the reforms are worth their cost in enforcement and compliance expense and lost economic growth due to constraints on lending. This paper contains some of my observations and conclusions.