Global financial crisis part 3

If through either of the above instruments, crises can relatively easily be prevented or stopped then it is clear that they are much less dangerous and less important. Indeed, since one could include such government actions as part of the actual financial system, then one could conclude that the system endogenously prevents crises from occurring.

Concluding, I believe that the financial market has in fact shown remarkable resilience and adaptability in the face of the condition of the real economies, the shocks experienced and the rapid deregulation. The issue of financial instability is and should be a concern but probably the best policy towards that objective is to have a healthy and stable "real" economy. How to achieve this is indeed another question.

It may be useful to summarize the argument. A system of financial regulation was crafted out of the financial turmoil of the 1930s. It had two defining characteristics, the restriction of competition and government protection. This institutional structure was created in conformity with the concrete conditions at the time (low debt, high liquidity, low inflation, and low interest rates). It was successful in the postwar period in the United States in part because of that conformity. The high profit rates in the early postwar period also helped to create a situation in which no financial crises occurred.

Eventually, however, those conditions changed: debt increased, liquidity declined, profits fell, and inflation and interest rates increased. The worsening financial conditions in the later postwar period contributed directly to the reemergence of financial crises. The old institutional structure, rather than leading to stability and profitability for financial institutions, resulted in instability and financial difficulties in the context of these new conditions. Banks and thrifts found themselves in a difficult situation intensified by the tight monetary policy beginning in the early 1980s. Financial crises increased, as did failures of thrifts and commercial banks. Eventually the banks and thrifts searched for riskier, potentially more profitable, but ultimately more speculative areas of lending.