The financial crisis : who is to blame? / Howard Davies.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The big picture. Frankenstein's monster: the end of laissez-faire capitalism ; The rich get richer, the poor borrow ; The savings glut: global imbalances ; Too loose for too long: U.S. monetary policy -- The trigger. Minsky's moment ; The subprime collapse: a failure of government? -- The failures of regulation. A capital shortage ; Procyclicality ; The canary in the coal mine: off-balance sheet vehicles ; The taxi at the station: liquidity ; The blind man and the elephant: U.S. regulation ; SEC, RIP? ; Financial weapons of mass destruction: derivatives ; Federal mortgage regulation ; Casino banking: the end of Glass-Steagall ; Too big to fail ; Lighting the touchpaper: light touch regulation ; There were three people in the marriage: UK regulation ; A failure of coordination ; Paradise lost: offshore centres -- Accountants, auditors and rating agencies. Shoot the messenger: fair value accounting ; Tunnel vision: the auditors ; Conflicts of interest: credit rating agencies -- Financial firms and markets. Breaking the chain: originate to distribute ; Too complex to trade: derivatives ; Disaster myopia: risk management ; The roach motel: corporate governance ; Blankfein's bonus: pay and incentives ; The vampire squid: fraud ; A plague of locusts: hedge funds ; Short-selling -- Economics and finance theory: irrational expectations. The death of economics ; Inefficient markets ; An ethics-free zone: business schools -- Wild cards. The watchdog that didn't bark: the media ; Greed is bad ; Lara Croft: video games ; Hormones -- And finally. A combustible mixture.

Presents arguments focused on who or what caused the financial crisis which engulfed the world, beginning in the summer of 2007. Looks at suspects that include greedy investment bankers, feckless borrowers, dilatory regulators and myopic central bankers. There is no agreement on whether the crisis shows a need for more government intervention in markets, or less.