A first lesson concerns the role of the monetary authorities in signalling the risks to financial stability. Independent central banks, with their sound reputation, their strong technical skills, and their medium- to long-term perspective, are in the ideal position to assess systemic risks emerging from financial markets and communicate them credibly to the public.
Nevertheless, the markets have apparently failed to heed our warnings sufficiently, in this crisis as in past episodes. To many of us, last year’s crisis did not come as a surprise.