The first factor concerns how the financial crisis is perceived by the public and sometimes even by economic policy-makers. In our affluent societies, accustomed to economic growth and well-being, most people do not understand the risks to financial stability.
Moreover, there were few, even in the inner circle of decision-makers, who understood the gravity of the situation in which the markets found themselves in early May this year. The second factor is that, in the face of systemic crises, such as the one through which we have passed, those who govern must sometimes take decisions that infringe long-term rules.