The transcript of the session “Workshop Series on the 2008 Financial Crisis: The Panic,” at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University on November 9, 2018. Chaired by John Cochrane with opening presentations by George P. Shultz and Niall Ferguson, followed by a general group discussion.
Looking back ten years, I have been struck by two things. First, the analytical framework of The Ascent of Money served readers well. The book correctly foresaw that, bad as things already were in the summer of 2008, they were about to get a great deal worse.
As I see the financial crisis of 2008, the following steps outline what took place. One of the main lessons to learn from the financial crisis is the importance of holding institutions - large and small, and including the federal government –accountable for their actions.
Excerpts from “A Conversation about Key Conclusions,” in Ending Government Bailouts As We Know Them, Kenneth E. Scott, George P. Shultz, John B. Taylor (Eds.) Hoover Institution Press,2009