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Not What They Had in Mind

The Legatum Institute is pleased to publish this timely study, Not What They Had in Mind: A History of Policies that Produced the Financial Crisis of 2008, by Dr Arnold Kling which we anticipate will illuminate understanding of the policy decisions leading up to the current financial crisis as well as drive forward the debate about how best to navigate out of the current crisis and avoid a future reoccurrence.  

Unlike other studies of the global financial crisis, which are more limited in scope, this important study provides a comprehensive historical account of how policy choices made over decades in the United States created conditions ripe for a global crisis. It counters flawed conventional notions about the sources of the crisis and is indispensable reading for anyone who seeks the truth about what happened to cause the crisis – and why.

The Legatum Institute has been a supportive partner of the Mercatus Centre’s work to provide an evidence-based account of the economic crisis of 2008 and is gratefully reprinting this report with permission from the Mercatus Centre. Consistent with its worldwide mission, the Legatum Institute seeks to bring to an international audience an understanding how policy choices in the world’s largest single economy, the United States, led to a crisis that has affected the global economy. It is our hope that the lessons contained in this historical account will equip policymakers, business leaders, investors, the media, and everyday citizens with the knowledge necessary to avoid similar pitfalls in the future, and to foster healthier, stronger, and more sustainable prosperity over the long term.

Download the PDF here.

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