Before the outbreak of the turmoil, leverage had built up both through traditional channels such as repos and through non-traditional channels such as off-balance sheet vehicles and structured credit products. Much of the leverage was parked outside traditional financial institutions and also embedded in complex products held worldwide by various investors.
In one way or another, these conferences have always focused on the relationship between, on the one hand, theoretical advances in and, on the other hand, practical challenges for the design and implementation of monetary policy.