Publisher's Synopsis
Two–three trillion dollars. That is the bill that governments and their taxpayers will eventually have to pay to sort out the financial crises that arose in 2007/8, How did we get into such a position and, more importantly, how are we going to get out of it? Who was to blame? It started with Northern Rock but within twelve months rippled out to encompass banks and financial institutions around the world. There are many candidates at whom a finger can be pointed but this was not a crisis created by a few mis-guided individuals, much as we would like to believe so. It was the result of a general ethos that permeated many walks of life, in other words it was essentially a product of human nature. Senior bankers were at the centre of the problems but politicians, regulators and even mortgage borrowers all played a part by adopting an attitude based on “let the good times roll!” It is a sorry tale but one that every thinking person needs to study closely. The credit crunch should have brought to an end an era of reckless optimism in an increasingly artificial financial world and should convince us all that we must look to the creation of a new global financial world, based at least in part on old values that have been pushed aside in recent years in favour of growth, enhanced market share and, let's face it, egotism and sheer greed.
