Emerging markets do not handle adverse shocks well. In this paper, I will outline an explanation of why emerging markets are so fragile, and why they may adopt contractual mechanisms -- such as a dollarized banking system -- that increase their fragility. I draw on this analysis to explain why...

Raghuram Rajan was one of the few economists who warned of the global financial crisis before it hit. Now, as the world struggles to recover, it's tempting to blame what happened on just a few greedy bankers who took irrational risks and left the rest of us to foot the bill. In Fault Lines,...

Aus der Finanzkrise ist über die Währungskrise längst eine weltweite Bedrohung des Finanzsystems geworden. Die akuten Brandherde der globalen Finanzstruktur scheinen zwar immer wieder unter Kontrolle, doch unter der Oberfläche brodelt es weiter. Genau hier setzt mit Raghuram Rajan einer der...

Raghuram Rajan was one of the few economists who warned of the global financial crisis before it hit. Rajan shows how the individual choices that collectively brought about the economic meltdown--made by bankers, government officials, and ordinary homeowners--were rational responses to a flawed...