Financial market failures and public policies: A central banker's perspective on the global financial crisis

The financial turmoil, which began in the summer of 2007, has developed into one of the most disruptive financial and economic crisis experienced by the world in many decades. At the root of the crisis we find a combination of macroeconomic imbalances and microeconomic factors, including market failures and deficiencies in the design of regulatory and supervisory frameworks. This article analyses the underlying causes which contributed to the crisis and reviews the key measures adopted by public authorities to mitigate its effects as well as some of the lessons learned to make the international financial markets more resilient.