Global economic meltdown: Greenspan's legacy

Abstract

In the event of statedly the deepest global crisis ever since the Great Depression, with the world economy mired in a severe economic meltdown, Samir K Barua and Mahendra R Gujarathi identify the factors and the players that incubated and nurtured the meltdown. The policies of deregulation, monetary expansion, and fair value accounting are specifically addressed in a historical perspective. The authors offer an insight into how sequentially the lawmakers first created the potent environment for risk-taking through unrestrained deregulation, the Federal Reserve then set the stage for the crisis with a policy of unbridled monetary expansion, and the accounting standard-setter finally relaxed norms to provide support for hiding the losses incurred� thus together fuelling the crisis. Although several trillions of dollars have been pumped into the market to maintain the credit flow, it is yet uncertain as to how the crisis will impact in the long run, the authors conclude on a cautionary note. � 2009, SAGE Publications Ltd. All rights reserved.