Money: now you see it now you don’t

Abstract

The global economic crisis of 2008 was the worst since 1929. Its effects have been felt across the world, ranging from the closure or restructuring of ‘too-big-to-fail’ banks, beginning with Lehman Brothers in September 2008, to the recession of many national economies and the near-collapse of others, such as Greece, together with swinging cuts in many countries as governments attempt to absorb unsustainable levels of debt. The reasons for the crisis have been thoroughly analysed, with most commentators arguing that the principal cause was the over-confidence and greed of the banks. The Economist ran a series of articles five years on, exploring the multiple causes. These made it quite clear that the banks were the prime problem, given that they: