First Responders: Inside the U.S. Strategy for Fighting the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis

Ben Bernanke, Timothy F. Geithner, J. Nellie Liang, Henry M. Paulson

Yale University Press, Jan 1, 2020 - Business & Economics - 624 pages

An insider's view of the U.S. government's response to the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, recounted by the people who made the key decisions

In 2008, the world's financial system stood on the brink of disaster. The United States faced an unprecedented crisis when the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, setting off a global panic. Faced with the prospect of a new Great Depression, the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and other agencies took extraordinary measures to contain the damage and steady the financial system and the economy. Edited by three of the policymakers who led the government's response to the crisis, with chapters written by the teams tasked with finding policy solutions, this book provides a comprehensive accounting of the internal debates and controversies surrounding the measures that were taken to stabilize the financial system and the economy. Offering previously untold insight into the key choices (including rejected options) and a frank evaluation of successes and failures, this volume is both an important historical document and an indispensable guide for confronting future financial calamities.

Contents

• The Financial Crisis and Its Lessons for the Future: 1
• The Use and Effectiveness of Conventional Liquidity Tools Early in the Financial Crisis: 49
• The Feds Novel LenderofLastResort Programs: 81
• Nonbank Financial Institutions New Vulnerabilities and Old Tools: 113
• The Legal Authorities Framing the Governments Response: 144
• Rescuing the Mortgage Giants: 171
• Money Market Funds Collapse Run and Guarantee: 193
• Recapitalizing the Banking System: 208
• The Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program: 226
• Bank Capital Reviving the System: 254
• Lessening the Impact of Bank Failures: 289
• CrisisEra Housing Programs: 320
• The Rescue and Restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler: 359
• Implementing TARP The Administrative Architecture of the Troubled Assets Relief Program: 385
• Monetary Policy during the Financial Crisis: 421
• The Fiscal Response to the Great Recession Steps Taken Paths Rejected and Lessons for Next Time: 451
• International Coordination of Financial and Economic Policies: 489
• Evidence on the Outcomes from the Financial Crisis Response: 529
• Acknowledgments: 565
• Index: 569

About the author

Ben S. Bernanke is distinguished fellow in residence at the Brookings Institution and was chair of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. Timothy F. Geithner is president of the global private equity firm Warburg Pincus and was secretary of the Treasury from 2009 to 2013. Henry M. Paulson, Jr., is chairman of the Paulson Institute at the University of Chicago and was secretary of the Treasury from 2006 to 2009.

Bibliographic information

• Title: First Responders: Inside the U.S. Strategy for Fighting the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis
• Editors: Ben Bernanke, Timothy F. Geithner, J. Nellie Liang, Henry M. Paulson
• Contributor: J. Nellie Liang
• Edition: unabridged
• Publisher: Yale University Press, 2020
• ISBN: 0300244444, 9780300244441
• Length: 624 pages
• Subjects: Business & Economics / Economic History; History / United States / 21st Century; Political Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy