Financial Markets

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The Challenge of Creating Jobs in the Aftermath of the ‘Great Recession’

Russell Roberts | Dec 10, 2009

The Job Market and the Great Recession

Testimony Before the Joint Economic Committee

Russell Roberts | Dec 10, 2009

In his testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Congress, Lillian F. Smith Distinguished Scholar Dr. Russell Roberts explains what Congress can do to create jobs during the…

As Boeing Hits Turbulence, Uncle Sam Flies to Its Aid

Donald J. Boudreaux | Dec 09, 2009

The Risks of New Restrictions on Payday Lending and Title Lending

Todd Zywicki |

Although there is no evidence that non-traditional lending products such as payday and title lending contributed to the financial crisis, Congress is considering new regulations on such products.

The House That Uncle Sam Built

The Untold Story of the Great Recession of 2008

Peter J. Boettke, Steven Horwitz | Dec 02, 2009

The Great Recession (or the Great Hangover) that began in 2008 did not have to happen. Its causes and consequences are not mysterious. Indeed, this particular and very painful episode affirms what…

Vices and Virtues of Limiting Executive Compensation

Testimony Before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Russell Roberts | Oct 28, 2009

In this testimony, Professor Russell Roberts explains that the problem with executive compensation is that executives have not been subject to the profit and loss cosequences of the free-market system. Profits encourage risk-taking, and the losses encourage prudence. If the…

Loans are not Toasters: The Problems with a Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Stefanie Haeffele-Balch, Todd Zywicki | Oct 2009

In an effort to correct problems that led to the current housing and mortgage crisis, policy makers have proposed a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) that would have the authority to…

A Brief History of Credit Rating Agencies: How Financial Regulation Entrenched this Industry's Role in the Subprime Mortgage Debacle of 2007 - 2008

Lawrence J. White | Oct 2009

Policy makers pondering financial regulatory changes to avoid future catastrophes should understand how regulatory actions facilitated a noncompetitive credit rating industry and propelled its members into the center of the bond information process, which in turn contributed to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

The Housing Market Crash

Gabriel Lucjan Okolski, Todd Zywicki | Sep 2009

Widespread foreclosures and the collapse in home prices in many areas of the United States that began in 2007 and continued through 2008 and 2009, spawned an ongoing global financial crisis. As a…

Not What They Had in Mind: A History of Policies that Produced the Financial Crisis of 2008

Arnold Kling | Sep 2009

This paper looks at the roots of the current crisis through an analytical framework of bad bets, excessive leverage, domino effects, and 21st-century bank runs. It shows that broad policy areas—including housing policy, capital regulations for banks, industry structure and competition, autonomous financial innovation, and monetary policy—affected elements of this framework to varying, but important degrees.

EVENTS

One Year In: What Do We Know About the Financial Crisis?

Capitol Hill Campus, Financial Markets Working Group

September 15, 2009

8:30 AM

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10:00 AM

Mercatus Financial Markets Working Group members Russ Roberts and Arnold Kling will present the findings of their in-depth investigations into the causes and nature of the current economic crisis.

EVENTS

A Quarterly Economic Update September 2009

Capitol Hill Campus, Capitol Hill Campus

September 11, 2009

12:00 PM

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1:30 PM

To keep Congressional staffers up to date on the current economic situation, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University hosts quarterly briefings that survey the economic scene. Specific…

The Misdirection of Current Corporate Governance Proposals

Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Banking

J. W. Verret | Jul 29, 2009

In Congressional testimony, Professor J.W. Verret argues against recent corporate governance proposals because the proposed reform stand in the way of shareholder choice.

Banking Industry Perspectives on the Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform Proposals

Testimony Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services

Todd Zywicki | Jul 15, 2009

Todd Zywicki's remarks before the House Financial Services Committee primarily address the Obama Administration's proposal to create a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), which would…

The Legitimacy of Political Intelligence Trading and the Threat of Insider Trading by the Treasury Department

Testimony Before the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

J. W. Verret | Jul 13, 2009

In this testimony, J.W. Verret addresses some of the risks posed by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, which would include in the definition of insider trading any trades based on…

The Case Against New Restrictions on Payday Lending

Todd Zywicki | Jul 2009

In the wake of the financial crisis, Congress and federal regulators have moved aggressively to impose new regulations on a variety of consumer credit products. Thus far, Congress has focused on mortgages and credit cards, which have seen record high…

The Role of Ideal Types in Austrian Business Cycle Theory

Steven Horwitz, Gene Callahan | Jun 2009

The source of disagreement and criticism of the Austrian Business Cycle Theory comes from an ambiguity about the theory, caused by both supporters and critics. They both fail to recognize that the theory is constructed using a vareity of ideal…

The Microeconomic Foundations of Macroeconomic Disorder: An Austrian Perspective on the Great Recession of 2008

Steven Horwitz | Jun 2009

This working paper makes the case that the Austrian Business Cycle Theory is still relevant especially during this time of financial crisis. The Austrian explanations of the business cycle takes into account microeconomic foundations, which current standard macroeconomics makes little…

What Happened to 'Efficient Markets'?

Peter J. Boettke | Jun 2009

The financial crisis of 2008 challenged the public consensus supporting free market economies. This paper argues that the current shift in favor of heavy regulation and government intervention in the…

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