An Updated Crisis Response Manual Given recent U.S. experience in responding to the financial crisis, allow me to offer for consideration some ideas to inform the policy response going forward. You can judge for yourselves whether policymakers – at home or abroad – will be receptive to these ideas. First, don’t blame the mirror.
In times of economic weakness or financial distress, policymakers are often troubled by the messages embedded in financial market prices or bank lending statistics. Some supervisors might disagree – even strongly – with the prices markets assign to a banking system’s financial wherewithal. Some elected officials may  2  BIS Review 90/2010  blame commercial banks for the low levels of lending.