Beyond the Post-2008 'Fix'

Finance needs to re-establish its role in serving the needs of an inclusive, sustainable economy. Policy and regulatory interventions following the financial crisis can help by improving oversight and reducing dangerous levels of systemic risks. Yet the opposite may also be true. Financial institutions increasingly say that post-2008 measures may create new sources of risk, and harm the real economy through measures that weaken lending and long-term investing. Many dismiss these complaints, seeing them as self-serving, but there is merit to these concerns. Some forceful interventions have unintended, negative consequences, and other, much-needed interventions have simply not happened.