All these improvements notwithstanding, I want to argue today that we still need a further critical debate about how we think of financial instability, its causes and its economic consequences. In this debate we have to question perceived viewpoints and sometimes perhaps to go back to basics. There are of course many more open issues than I can possibly address in this talk.
So let me confine myself mainly to a particular - though important- aspect of this debate: The common perspective on financial regulation and financial instability is at the moment mainly concerned with single institutions. The discussion of financial crises and systemic risk however requires a shift in perspective from individual institutions to the financial system as a whole.