The Bankers' New Clothes

Looks at the problems with today's banking system, examining the arguments used to justify the lack of reform after the recent financial crises, and suggesting things that may be done to prevent future crises.

"Admati and Hellwig's work is groundbreaking both in its accessibility and its clarity."---Ross P. Buckley, Banking & Finance Law Review

Auteur
Anat Admati is a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She has written for the New York Times and the Financial Times and has been included in Time's 100 Most Influential People and Foreign Policy's 100 Leading Global Thinkers. Martin Hellwig is director emeritus at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods in Bonn and former chair of the German Monopolies Commission and the Advisory Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board.

Texte du rabat

STOP PRESS MAY 2014

Résumé

Why our banking system is brokenand what we must do to fix it

As memories of the Global Financial Crisis have faded, it has been tempting to believe that the banking system is now safe and that we will never again have to choose between havoc and massive bailouts. But The Bankers' New Clothes shows that reforms have changed littleand that the banks still present serious dangers to the world economy. Writing in clear language anyone can understand, Anat Admati and Martin Hellwig explain how we can have a healthier banking system without sacrificing any benefits. They also debunk the false and misleading narratives of bankers, regulators, politicians, academics, and others who oppose real reform.

Contenu

Preface to the Paperback Edition ix Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvii 1 The Emperors of Banking Have No Clothes 1 PART I Borrowing, Banking, and Risk 15 2 How Borrowing Magnifies Risk 17 3 The Dark Side of Borrowing 32 4 Is It Really "A Wonderful Life"? 46 5 Banking Dominos 60 PART II The Case for More Bank Equity 79 6 What Can Be Done? 81 7 Is Equity Expensive? 100 8 Paid to Gamble 115 9 Sweet Subsidies 129 10 Must Banks Borrow So Much? 148 PART III Moving Forward 167 11 If Not Now, When? 169 12 The Politics of Banking 192 13 Other People's Money 208 Notes 229 References 337 Index 363