The current financial crisis has much in common with past crises. Poor investment strategies with respect to risk as well as poor evaluation have contributed to the current crisis. This paper presents the lessons to be learned by the private and public sectors. Why do crises keep happening?...

Most monetary economists today conduct their analysis within some version of a rational expectations model. A well-defined equilibrium in such a model requires that the private sector understand policy goals and the policymakers' model of the economy. An austere version of the model, with no...