Financial Innovation: Too Much or Too Little?
About this ebook
In assigning blame for the recent economic crisis, many have pointed to the proliferation of new, complex financial products—mortgage securitization in particular—as being at the heart of the meltdown. The prominent economists from academia, policy institutions, and financial practice who contribute to this book, however, take a more nuanced view of financial innovation. They argue that it was not too much innovation but too little innovation—and the lack of balance between debt-related products and asset-related products—that lies behind the crisis. Prevention of future financial crises, then, will be aided by a regulatory and legal framework that fosters the informed use of financial innovation and its positive effects on the economy rather than quashing innovation entirely.
The book, which includes two contributions from 2013 Nobe Laureate Robert Shiller as well as a discussion of Shiller's “MacroMarkets” tool, considers the key ingredients of financial innovation from both academia and industry; and how future innovation-lined crises might be avoided.
Contributors
Josef Ackermann, Nicholas C. Barberis, John Y. Campbell, Karl E. Case, Robin Greenwood, Michael Haliassos, Otmar Issing, Alexander Popov, Robert J. Shiller, Andrei Shleifer, Frank R. Smets, Susan J. Smith, Maria Vassalou, Luis M. Viceira
About the author
Robert J. Shiller is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University. He is the author of Finance and the Good Society and other books.
Robert J. Shiller is Sterling Professor of Economics at Yale University. He is the author of Finance and the Good Society and other books.
Andrei Shleifer is Professor of Economics at Harvard University and recipient of the 1999 John Bates Clark Medal. He is the author of Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia (MIT Press, 2000) and other books.
Otmar Issing is President of the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe University in Frankfurt. He has been a member of the executive boards of the Bundesbank (German Central Bank) and the European Central Bank (where he was also Chief Economist). He is the author of The Birth of the Euro and Monetary Policy in the Euro Area.