In the fall of 2008, America suffered a devastating economic collapse. Once valuable securities lost most or all of their value, debt markets froze, stock markets plunged, and storied financial firms went under. Millions of Americans lost their jobs; millions of families lost their homes; and good businesses shut down. These events cast the United States into an economic recession so deep that the country has yet to fully recover. This Report is the product of a two-year bipartisan investigation by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations into the origins of the 2008 financial crisis. The goals of this investigation were to construct a public record of the facts in order to deepen the understanding of what happened; identify some of the root causes of the crisis; and provide a factual foundation for the ongoing effort to fortify the country against the recurrence of a similar crisis in the future.

Why did some firms weather the financial crisis and others not? This book investigates inner workings of over a dozen major financial and nonfinancial companies, reveals what went wrong and proposes a remedy. Regulators too must learn from past mistakes and require "constructive dialogue" for companies they supervise.

øŠAline Darbellay analyzes the obvious system relevance of credit rating agencies in depth and assesses the possible options for regulatory responses to this systemic issue. Thereby, the book is based on a fruitful comparative legal approach and formul

This timely book utilizes the tools of politics, economics and public policy to explore the causes of the recent global financial crisis, which, the author argues, can be explained as the absence of a public interest perspective in policy making. Maurice Mullard points out that recessions are not collective shared experiences. Recessions create winners and losers. Furthermore, recessions are not an external event but reflect the outcomes of the policy process. The author looks beyond economic explanations for the economic crisis, and instead points towards a structural explanation. He explores the concept of social structures, the effects of the relationships between power and influence, and the role of ideology and income inequalities as contributory factors. The commitment to deregulated financial markets created an over the counter derivatives market worth some $640 trillion dollars compared to a global GDP worth $65 trillion dollars. The growth of derivatives markets, the role of credit rating agencies, major shifts in policy making and growing income inequalities are described as major factors explaining the present economic recession. The absence of a public interest perspective, the breakdown of trust in institutions, policy makers' dependence on financial contributions, the housing bubble, and the increased concentration of income have distorted the democratic process. Thought provoking and stimulating, this book will provide a fascinating study for students and academics with an interest in politics, economics, political economy and public policy.

Comprising essays specially commissioned for the volume, leading scholars who have shaped the field of corporate law and governance explore and critique developments in this vibrant and expanding area and offer possible directions for future research. This important addition to the Research Handbooks in Law and Economics series provides insights into subjects such as the role of directors, shareholders, creditors and employees; empirical studies of litigation and shareholder activism; executive compensation; corporate gatekeepers; comparative law; and behavioral approaches to law and finance. Topics are organized within five sections: corporate constituencies, insider governance, gatekeepers, jurisdiction, and new theory. Taken as a whole, the volume serves as an introduction for those new to the field and as a reference for those unfamiliar with some of the topics discussed. Authoritative and accessible, the Research Handbook on the Economics of Corporate Law will be a valuable resource for students, scholars, and practitioners of corporate law and economics.