The subprime crisis and the subsequent failure of Lehman Brothers came as such a shock – and the repercussions were so severe that when the time came to mount a response, policy makers were as surprised…
The biggest open secret in the financial world has been confirmed. Regulators in the UK, the US and Switzerland have announced massive fines for some of the world’s largest banks for a manipulation of…
In the last decade or so, the global financial landscape has endured two major shocks - the first with the 2007 collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the United States, and the second emanating…
Banks borrow short and lend long. So if all of a bank’s depositors suddenly want their money, the bank would be unable to pay them. A bank may have made great loans but it can only unwind these loans slowly…
It’s clear mortgage standards have gotten too tight when even a former Federal Reserve chairman who makes as much as US$250,000 per speech cannot refinance his home. Ben Bernanke complained about his inability…
Readers of the Financial Times would have recently encountered a story that encompasses the paper’s version of bad/good news when it comes to the oil business. According to the author Daniel Yergin, the…
The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced the results of “stress tests”, which assess whether or not banks will fail, or require a taxpayer-funded bailout, if the economy were to turn sour. 130 banks…
The long and slow-stunted recovery of the eurozone economies is a major source of concern for the IMF and international bankers. Six years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers signalled the onset of the…
Perhaps the most interesting type of reform to have emerged from the global financial crisis is the call for “macroprudential” regulation. Macroprudential regulation, in broadest terms, seeks to manage…
After a financial crisis which highlighted and unearthed corrupt management, bad business practices and selfish acts of greed, maybe it’s time to evaluate the impact of a more spiritual form of leadership…
When it comes to debating the rights and wrongs of public policies, economists have always held a privileged position. While citizens and less respected social scientists must strive to get their voices…
In the lead up to the budget, the story of crisis has been hammered home, but there’s more to a country than its structural deficit. So how is Australia doing overall? In this special series, ten writers…
Recent analysis by Morgan Stanley suggests China may be approaching a so-called “Minsky moment”. A Minsky moment, named for American economist Hynan Minsky, is when debt-induced financing becomes unsustainable…
In the popular novel of F. Scott Fitzgerald, James “Jimmy” Gatz (The Great Gatsby) climbs from his poor, rural North Dakotan origins to New York’s high society. His parties are as glamorous as they get…
The Republic of Ireland’s calamitous recent years of financial crisis and government dysfunction look to be coming to an end, with an economic recovery gathering pace and a new administration that seems…
These days, if investors ever want a break from fretting over the euro zone or US jobs, they can always look east. China’s bubbling debt problem has become a source of genuine anxiety and a potential threat…
The global crash of 2008 kicked off a furious debate in the UK about whether or not the City of London is a real asset to the economy. There was huge anger about the multi-billion bail-out of failed banks…
Australia’s cost of living is among the highest in the world, despite our low inflation rate. In this series we explore what consumers can expect from the big ticket items - petrol, power and groceries…