Transcript
DOUGLAS ELLIOTT: Well, thank you. You’re a very, very good audience, I have to say. You seem to pretty much all be here on time, you’re quiet, you’re ready for us to go, so I think we might as well start in.
So, welcome to the Brookings Institution and thank you all for coming here today. My name is Doug Elliott. I’m a fellow in the economic studies area here and I focus principally on the financial sector and on regulation and legislation surrounding that. And it’s an honor to have the opportunity to introduce Dr. Raghuram Rajan and to moderate this panel. I’m sorry, however, that my opportunity comes at the expense of Eswar Prasad, who, unfortunately, had a family emergency and could not be here today, but he sends his deep regrets.
So, Dr. Rajan, who is generally known as Raghu, is one of the preeminent academic thinkers in the intersection between finance and economics. In addition to teaching at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, he was for several years the chief economist of the IMF and he’s also been an advisor to the prime minister of India, among other roles. We’re here today to discuss his new book called Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy. In the book he explains his view of the origins of the financial crisis and some recommendations for how to revise our economic and financial systems to avoid having such severe problems in the future.
Now, his thoughts on this carry added credibility because he was one of the few voices who was arguing against the complacency that held much of the profession enthralled as the crisis was brewing. His book, as you’ll see, is well conceived and very well written. And I’d like to add my own personal congratulations to the accolades he’s already received.
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