The book studies the trends that led to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, as well as the unfolding of the crisis, in order to provide policy recommendations to improve financial stability. The book starts with changes in monetary policy and income distribution from the 1970s. These changes profoundly modified the foundations of economic growth in the US by destroying the commitment banking model and by decreasing the earning power of households whose consumption has been at the core of the growth process. The main themes of the book are the changes in the financial...

This collection offers a comparative overview of how financial regulations have evolved in various European countries since the introduction of the single European market in 1986. It includes a number of country studies which provides a narrative of the domestic financial regulatory structure at the beginning of the period, as well the means by which the EU Directives have been introduced into domestic legislation and the impact on the financial structure of the economy.

In particular, studies highlight how the discretion allowed by the Directives has been used to meet the then...