The politics of major banking crises has been transformed since the nineteenth century. Analyzing extensive historical and contemporary evidence, Chwieroth and Walter demonstrate that the rising wealth of the middle class has generated 'great expectations' among voters that the government is...

A brief history of our time -- Expectations, knowledge and prices -- Beyond price -- Savings, investment and liquidity -- Models, theories and apples -- Policy implications : finance -- Competition policy -- A new European capital market -- Geopolitics -- Technical annex: do we really need a new...