Content area
Full Text
"FAULT LINES" BY RAGHURAM G. RAJAN
ABSTRACT This book review presents a summary of "Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy" by Raghuram Rajan, who puts forward a clear and cogent account of the latest global financial crisis. With the historical perspective he adopts, Rajan digs in deeper than the shallow surface to reveal the growing economic stresses in both the United States and the rest of the world that were overlooked at the time but came together eventually to trigger the crisis that drifted world economies into prolonged recessions. While elucidating the roots of the crisis, the book insightfully explains how structural problems piled up, how households, banks, and politicians acted on self-interest ignoring rising risks, and how policy makers stayed reluctant to act. Rajan emphasizes the importance of drawing right lessons out of the crisis to ensure a more balanced world economy and restore lasting prosperity on a global scale.
JEL E20, E60, F02, G01
Keywords Fault Lines, Financial Crises
ÖZ Bu kitap elestirisi, Raghuram Rajan'in son küresel finansal krizin nedenlerini açik ve ikna edici bir sekilde ortaya koydugu "Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy" adli kitabinin kisa bir özetini sunmaktadir. Rajan kitabinda ABD ve dünyanin geri kalaninda, dünya ekonomilerinin uzun bir durgunluk dönemine sürüklenmesine sebep olan ekonomik sorunlari tarihsel bir bakis açisiyla ele almaktadir. Kitap krizin köklerine isik tutarken, yapisal sorunlarin nasil biriktigine, hane halkinin, bankalarin ve politikacilarin artan riskleri görmezden gelerek nasil çikarlari yönünde hareket ettigine ve politika yapicilarin bunlara nasil kayitsiz kaldigina hem ayrintili hem de kolay anlasilir biçimde açiklik getirmektedir. Rajan küresel ölçekte dengeli bir ekonomik yapinin saglanmasi ve refahin sürdürülmesi açisindan yasanan krizden dogru dersler çikarmanin önemini vurgulamaktadir.
FAULT LINES ÜZERINE BIR ELESTIRI
JEL E20, E60, F02, G01
Anahtar Kelimeler Fault Lines, Finansal krizler
"The problem was not that no one warned about the dangers; it was that those who benefited from an overheated economy - which included a lot of people - had little incentive to listen."
- Fault Lines, p.1
1. Introduction
The crisis that broke up in the United States' housing sector in mid-2007 quickly spread to other sectors of the economy through ruined balance sheets of economic units and severely dampened household consumption. As it turned...