On 16th November 2009, SUERF, CEPS and the Belgian Financial Forum coorganized a conference "Crisis management at cross-roads" in Brussels. All papers in the present volume are based on contributions at the conference and the SUERF Annual Lecture which followed the event.

Introduction / Edward L. Glaeser, Tano Santos, and E. Glen Weyl -- Stochastic compounding and uncertain valuation / Lars Peter Hansen and José A. Scheinkman -- The good banker / Patrick Bolton -- How to implement contingent capital / Albert S. Kyle -- Bankruptcy laws and collateral regulation:...

After experiencing spectacular economic growth and industrial development for much of the postwar era, Japan plunged abruptly into recession in the early 1990s and since then has suffered a prolonged period of economic stagnation, from which it is only now emerging. Japan's malaise, marked by...