Research Prompts

Here are two excellent concise primers on the causes:

Eight Days that Shook The World

Dissenting Statement of Members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

 

SUGGESTED RESEARCH TOPICS AND QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

  • Who and What is the Financial Crisis?
  • The Policy Impact of Financial Reforms
  • The Political Dynamics of Financial Reforms
  • Financial Policy Networks and Their Influence
  • Predicting the Progress of Legislation Related and Unrelated to the Financial Crisis
  • Was Anything Learned?

 

WHO AND WHAT IS THE FINANCIAL CRISIS?

  • Who was involved in the inquiries, lawmaking and regulatory processes that constituted the government’s response to the crisis?What were their connections?
  • When did concerns about the crisis first emerge?
  • What explanations for the financial crisis were offered, by whom, and to what effect?
  • Did blame attributions vary or change?
  • What prescriptions and predictions were offered regarding the road to recovery?
  • What reforms were proposed, by whom, and with what effect?

2. THE POLICY IMPACT OF FINANCIAL REFORMS

  • How did the financial crisis alter US national, state and international policy?
  • How did the financial crisis impact health and health care?
  • How did nations’ policy responses to the financial crisis vary and why? Were some responses more effective than others?
  • What was the fiscal impact of the financial crisis on national, state and local governments?

3. THE POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF FINANCIAL REFORM

  • How did the financial crisis affect political debates and behavior more broadly?

4. FINANCIAL POLICY NETWORKS AND THEIR INFLUENCE

  • Can available information about campaign contributions, lobbying, congressional testimony, regulatory commenting, media appearances help to shed light on the  connections among those most involved in shaping the political debate and policy options surrounding the financial crisis?

5. PREDICTING THE PROGRESS OF FINANCIAL REFORM LEGISLATION

  • Many bills were introduced. Which bills progressed and why?
  • How did the substance of reform legislation evolve during the process? What was added? What was removed?

6. WAS ANYTHING LEARNED?

  • Do investigations matter?
  • Is there evidence that policymakers changed their policy preferences in the investigations, reports and policies produced in response to the financial crisis?

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