IEL Lecture 2010 NEW
May 25, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
The Roots of the U.S. Financial Crisis
and the Ensuing "Too Big To Fail" Debate
Frederic M. Scherer
Kennedy School of Government
Harvard University
details here
paperhere
This lecture examines various facets of the “too big to fail” debate. It will note that in the current context, “too big to fail” may imply systemic risks from large financial institution size, compensating economies of scale, political power, and (within narrower markets) power to set prices above competitive levels. It will examine three stylized facts: the contours of the recent merger wave among financial institutions, the concomitant increase in the concentration of financial institution assets, and the impressive rise in financial institutions’ profits as a share of all U.S. corporate profits,. It will argue that rising aggregate concentration of financial institutions’ assets may imply rise in the power to set above-competitive prices in individual relevant banking markets – i.e., in segments of what economists call “product characteristics space.” There is not much solid economic evidence on this last conjecture for investment banking firms, but supporting evidence from the large number of studies focusing on commercial banks is marshaled. The evidence on economies of scale is also imperfect, but it implies that breakup of the largest banks need not cause great efficiency losses.
•••
IEL Open Day NEW
May 25, 2010
•••
IEL Seminars 2010 NEW
April 27, 2010, 11:00 a.m. at Collegio Carlo Alberto
The evolution of cooperation
Sergio Beraldo, Università degli studi di Napoli "Federico II"
June 17, 2010, 11:00 a.m. at Collegio Carlo Alberto
A behavioral analysis on copyright infringement
Matteo Migheli, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, CIPESS
Thesis Defence Sessions 2010
April 26, 2010 at Collegio Carlo Alberto
Branko Radulovic
Elisa Salvador
Slavisa Tasic
May 7, 2010 at Collegio Carlo Alberto
Tatsiana Biletskaya
Xiaoqian Hu
Golnoosh Hakimdavar
Francesca Strumia
•»8»
March 10, 2009, 4:15 p.m. at Collegio Carlo Alberto
The Concept of the Rule of Law, Maurizio Viroli, Princeton University & CCA
Thesis Defence Sessions 2009
March 9, 2009 at Universiteit van Gent
Joery Matthys
March 9, 2009 at Collegio Carlo Alberto
Irene Biglino
Benedetta Piola Caselli
March 17, 2009 at Collegio Carlo Alberto
Nadia Campaniello