To sum up, a diagnosis of the crisis reveals that governments have played a role in two different ways: first, by pursuing macroeconomic policies which are too expansionary; second, by at least partly neglecting their rule-setting role. The financial sector has abused the loopholes in the regulatory framework. The interdependence among these factors should also be clear.
Elizabeth A Duke: Stabilizing the housing market – focus on communities Speech by Ms Elizabeth A Duke, Member of the Board of Governors of the US Federal Reserve System, at the American Bankers Association National Conference for Community Bankers, Phoenix, Arizona, 16 February 2009.