Banks, Crashes, and the Collapse - Oh my.

What do Icelandic bankers, Greek Monks, and Irish Politicians have in common? The answer lies in the assigned reading for my project so far. In the Book, Boomerang, Michael Lewis takes a reader through an unexpected journey of the global financial collapse. We have all heard about the 2008 financial collapse of global institutions, but it was only in reading the first chapters of Boomerang did I realize how globalized our world has become. Prior, to reading the book, I, much like millions of other individuals,  had been living in a bubble of isolationism. I naively assumed that the nature and pure power of the United States Economy shielded me from the plague that had engulfed financial institutions worldwide. I was so absorbed in the microeconomic state of my life, that I never took the time to reflect on how in today’s globalized world, one persons actions could rock the foundation of everything I consider true.  The corruption that Mr. Lewis described was so vivid and appalling that these stories have sparked my interest in coming up with a solution to the problem that haunts global economics and finance.

To allow the manifestation of corruption in society in my mind is on par with being a part of this corruption. It is one thing to learn of moral hazard and responsibility, but quite another to do something that exemplifies it. As my mentor puts it, finance is a world in which pragmatism takes precedence over a strong moral compass. After meeting with him this morning he explained his rational of assigning me this book. He explains, "Mr. Lewis’s novels detail the never ending greed and corruption that engulfs society. In doing so he connects the dots that something that seems detached from daily life, like an investment bank, is actually a primary driver of how people interact on a day to day basis." He also warned me that to assume that the eradication of corruption is simple is to make a mistake that would preclude any progress in his upcoming proposals to the IMF. 
I look forward to starting to dive into the empirical research that my mentor has planned to help start this cure.