Publication

Mar 2009

This paper offers an overview of the 2008/2009 financial crisis and a comprehensive guide for reform. The author starts by examining the factors that helped bring the crisis about and shows how a variety of policies and practices, ranging from a tax structure that encouraged leverage and home buying to bank compensation that gave rewards for short-term gains and led to the collapse of the financial system. He then offers policy recommendations, principally for the US government.

Download English (PDF, 52 pages, 4.0 MB)
Author Benn Steil
Series CFR Council Special Reports
Publisher Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Copyright © 2009 Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
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