More generally, the world economy has been expanding at a reasonable pace over these three years, and the process of balance sheet repair has continued. These are positive developments. Nonetheless, in some important respects the situation is still some way from returning to normal. The after-effects of the global financial crisis are still weighing on activity in some of the major economies.
And interest rate settings around the world are still at exceptionally low levels to support growth, seven years after the crisis reached its height. All of this underscores the point that financial crises are costly events. They are costly in terms of lost income and output, lost jobs and damage to institutions.