'Blame the Bankers!' ...Should We?

A simplistic explanation of the global financial crisis, and one that is ascribed to by many, is that in the lead up to the crisis, city Bankers were greedy, took too many risks, dreamt up extraordinarily complicated methods of hiding their crazed gambling and sharing it's risk around and then were proved totally incompetent when it all went wrong.

This is a convenient explanation for many; it provides an easily-identifiable group to blame, despise and reform.

However, although they definitely can be blamed to an extent, are 'Bankers' totally to blame for the global economic crisis from which the world is slowly crawling?

'Fault Lines' is a critically acclaimed book by a leading economist, Raghuram Rajan, who argues that serious flaws in the economy are also to blame, and warns that a potentially more devastating crisis awaits us if they aren't fixed.

Raghuram Rajan was one of the few economists who warned of the global financial crisis before it hit, and the alternative explanations offered, including income inequality, global trade imbalances and flawed financial incentives to name but a few, are explored with confidence and panache: 'Fault Lines' is a fascinating read.

Read a small preview here. Enjoy.