Barry Eichengreen – renowned professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of California Berkeley, former senior advisor to the IMF, author of “Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetary System”, and editor of “Rescuing our Jobs and Savings: What G8 Leaders can do to Solve the Global Credit Crisis” – provides a detailed overview of the financial crisis. He discusses at length: (a) the excessive risk undertaken by a variety of financial institutions as a result of gradual deregulation of financial services sector in the second half of 20th century; (b) the role of both Republican and Democratic parties in maintaining deregulation policies following introduction of US President Ronald Reagan’s “free markets” ideology in 1980; (c) the inability of the US to properly manage or channel massive capital inflows from the developing world – especially China – during the last decade; (d) the failure of Bush administration to mount an adequate response to the financial crisis on account of its initial state of denial, financial engineering mindset, and “free markets” ideology; and (e) actions – such as, interest rate increases, deficit reduction, recapitalization of banks, and economic stimulus – that would have greatly mitigated the severity of the financial crisis. In addition, he dwells on: (f) the impact of the financial crisis on American power and globalization, as well as (g) the nature of institutional reforms required at global level to …

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