Very low policy rates as well as the substantial redesign of rules and supervisory institutions have changed background conditions for the Euro Area's financial intermediary sector substantially. Both policy initiatives have been targeted at improving societal welfare. And their potential side...

This paper argues that the global financial crisis still in train is a system-wide financial crisis on par with the Great Depression and the bursting of Japan's bubble, and that there are lessons to be learned from previous system-wide financial crises. The primary argument is that because a...