The Panic of 2008: Causes, Consequences and Implications for Reform

The Panic of 2008 brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to examine the causes and consequences of the global credit crisis, the subsequent collapse of the financial markets, and the following recession. The book evaluates the crisis in historical context, explores its various legal, economic, and financial dimensions, and considers various possibilities for reform. The Panic of 2008 is one of the first in-depth efforts to study the crisis as it was in the very earliest stage of resolution, and establishes a foundation for thinking about and evaluating current reform efforts and the likelihood of recurrence. This is a thorough and detailed examination by leading scholars from law, history, finance and economics and as such will be of great interest to the scholarly communities of legal academicians, financial historians, financial economists, and economists. General readers engaged with the ramifications of the financial crisis, including practising lawyers, policymakers, and financial and business professionals, will also find the book invaluable.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction Chronology of the Panic of 2008 PART I: HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS 1. The Panic of 2008: Something Old and Something New Maury Klein 2. The Anatomy of a Residential Mortgage Crisis: A Look Back to the 1930s Kenneth A. Snowden, Jr. PART II: CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR REFORM 3. Stress Testing and Scenario Analysis in Risk Management: Preparing for the Worst James Fanto 4. Too Big to Fail? Recasting the Financial Safety Net Steven L. Schwarcz 5. Overdependence on Credit Ratings Was a Primary Cause of the Crisis Frank Partnoy 6. Federal Preemption, Regulatory Failure and the Race to the Bottom in US Mortgage Lending Standards Patricia A. McCoy 7. Lessons from 2008 US Bank Failures William C. Handorf 8. Defaults and Returns in the High-Yield Bond Market: The Year 2008 in Review and Outlook Edward I. Altman and Brenda J. Karlin 9. Regulating the Financial Markets by Examinations Tamar Frankel 10. The Sewers of Jefferson County: Disclosure, Trust and Truth in Modern Finance Theresa A. Gabaldon 11. It’s Time to Resuscitate the Shareholder Derivative Action Edward Labaton and Michael W. Stocker 12. Cuomo v. Clearing House: The Supreme Court Responds to the Subprime Financial Crisis and Delivers a Major Victory for the Dual Banking System and Consumer Protection Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr. Index

About the Author :
Edited by Lawrence E. Mitchell, Theodore Rinehart Professor of Business Law, The George Washington University Law School, US and Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School, US

Review :
‘This volume is a rich collection of essays on the most important financial crisis since the 1930s. Here, the authoritative writers offer trenchant insights on this crisis. Mitchell and Wilmarth are much to be commended for gathering this valuable material in a volume easily accessible to analysts, students, scholars, and anyone alarmed by the panic of 2008. Read it and grow wiser in the ways of financial crises.’