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The Forgotten History of the Financial Crisis
Article

The Forgotten History of the Financial Crisis

What the World Should Have Learned in 2008

Adam Tooze
Foreign Affairs, 2018
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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Eye Opening
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Historian Adam Tooze drills down into the real causes of the global financial crisis in this enlightening chronicle of little-known 2007–2008 events. He convincingly posits that, as the crisis spread across the world at great speed, the quick actions of the US Federal Reserve averted a worldwide financial collapse. getAbstract recommends that analysts, investors and executives read this in-depth yet highly accessible account of what former Fed chair Ben Bernanke called “the worst financial crisis in global history, including the Great Depression.”

Summary

The financial crisis of 2007–2008 engulfed countries around the globe. Economies as diverse as those of Germany, the United States, Latvia, Russia and South Korea felt the impact. The crisis precipitated a 90% plunge in capital flows between nations from 2007 to 2008. A 22% drop in exports quickly stifled global trade. European countries saw numerous bank collapses that threatened the viability of the euro zone. 

The extensive interlinkages among financial institutions that put the world’s banking system in jeopardy started in the 1980s, when banks became...

About the Author

Adam Tooze is a history professor at Columbia University, where he leads the European Institute.

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