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Resolving the financial crisis: are we heeding the lessons from the Nordics?

Author

Listed:
  • Claudio Borio

    (Bank for International Settlements)

  • Bent Vale

    (Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway))

  • Goetz von Peter

    (Bank for International Settlements)

Abstract

How does the management and resolution of the current crisis compare with the response of the Nordic countries in the early 1990s, widely regarded as exemplary? We argue that, while intervention has been prompter, the measures taken so far remain less comprehensive and in-depth. In particular, the cleansing of balance sheets has proceeded more slowly, and less attention has been paid to reducing excess capacity and avoiding competitive distortions. In general, policymakers have given higher priority to sustaining aggregate demand in the short term than to encouraging adjustment in the financial sector and containing moral hazard. We argue that three factors largely explain this outcome: the more international nature of the crisis; the complexity of the instruments involved; and, hardly appreciated so far, the effect of accounting practices on the dynamics of the events, reflecting in particular the prominent role of fair value accounting (and mark to market losses) in relation to amortised cost accounting for loan books. There is a risk that the policies followed so far may delay the establishment of the basis for a sustainably profitable and less risk-prone financial sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudio Borio & Bent Vale & Goetz von Peter, 2010. "Resolving the financial crisis: are we heeding the lessons from the Nordics?," Working Paper 2010/17, Norges Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:bno:worpap:2010_17
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Crisis management and resolution; principles for successful resolution; Nordic countries; fair value and amortised cost accounting; mark to market losses;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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