*** In recent weeks, we have had difficult news not only on the financial system but also the ecosystem – the news that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is spreading ever wider – from the riggers who lost their lives in the explosion to their employers, local communities, environmental agencies and public policy-makers.
The increasingly integrated global financial markets imply that a major  2  See e.g., Rajan, R.G. (2005); "Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier", paper presented at the Jackson Hole symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, August 25-27, 2005; and Rajan, R.G.