Larsson läser
Janerik Larsson
Janerik Larsson
BBC Radio 4 har ett program som vars podcast jag alltid lyssnar på: Analysis. I den senaste utgåvan (se länken) intervjuar BBCs ekonomiredaktör Robert Peston författarna till en ny bok ”The House of Debt” . Författare är två amerikanska ekonomiprofessorer: Atif Mian and Amir Sufi.
Boken är en i den långa raden av böcker som belyser olika aspekter av finanskrisen som startade på allvar i september 2008.
Peston om boken:
They challenge the conventional wisdom that the banks were to blame for the recession in the US and UK. They argue that the real villain was the doubling between 2000 and 2007 in total American household debt to $14 trillion. Much of this was owed by borrowers with the poorest credit ratings. When the house price bubble burst and incomes also fell, these households suddenly stopped spending and plunged the US economy into deep recession.
By this argument, the banks weren’t the real problem. And yet, thanks in large part to their lobbying power, they received help which would have been better directed at helping indebted households. If correct, this means governments and central banks should fundamentally reappraise how they tackle future downturns, focusing much more on households and much less on bankers.
För mig som upplevde den svenska finanskrisen i början av 1990-talet var en uppenbart slutsats att den svenska riksbanken och de svenska politikerna var bättre på att balansera olika intressen än vad de amerikanska motsvarigheterna var 2008.