Limited liability and asymmetric information between an investment bank and its lenders provide an incentive for a bank to undercapitalise and finance overly risky business projects. To counter this market failure, national governments have imposed solvency constraints on banks. However, these...

Limited liability and asymmetric information between an investment bank and its lenders provide an incentive for a bank to undercapitalise and finance overly risky business projects. To counter this market failure, national governments have imposed solvency constraints on banks. However, these...

Financial crises can have a severe impact on the real side of the economy with countries losing up to 20 percent of GDP. The paper studies rules that prevent financial instability and currency crises. These include institutional arrangements for a solid banking system, prudent regulations and...

Der laut Cicero wichtigste Ökonom Deutschlands analysiert die aktuelle Finanzkrise. Er erklärt, warum Banker zu Glücksrittern wurden, und hinterfragt die zweifelhafte Rolle der Rating-Agenturen sowie das Engagement der deutschen Banken. Sinn blickt jedoch nicht nur zurück, sondern benennt...