Calling to accounts
The final article in our series on the financial crisis examines the best way to make banks safer without killing lending
BANKS are a perplexing mix. The special institutions at the heart of capitalism, they provide an easy link between savers and borrowers: granting loans to those with the ideas and ambition to use them while at the same time providing peace of mind to squirrels who want to lock their cash away safely. Yet banks have a dark side too: they exist to manage risk, but often simply stockpile it. When they go bad they scythe away wealth and strangle economies. There is little argument that it was the banks that started the crisis five years ago. There is huge disagreement about how to put things right.
This article appeared in the Schools brief section of the print edition under the headline “Calling to accounts”
Schools brief October 5th 2013
From the October 5th 2013 edition
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