Balancing the Banks

Mathias Dewatripont is professor of economics at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles (ECARES and Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management), annual visiting professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and research director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research. Jean-Charles Rochet is professor of mathematics and economics at the University of Toulouse I. Jean Tirole, the winner of the 2014 Nobel Prize in Economics, is chairman of the Foundation Jean-Jacques Laffont at the Toulouse School of Economics, scientific director of Toulouse's Industrial Economics Institute, and annual visiting professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Acknowledgments vii Chapter 1: Introduction by Mathias Dewatripont, Jean-Charles Rochet, and Jean Tirole 1 Regulation in a Historical Perspective 1 To Regulate or Not to Regulate? 3 The Challenges Facing Prudential Regulation 6 Building an Adaptive Regulatory System in a Global World 7 Keeping a Balance 8 Chapter 2: Lessons from the Crisis by Jean Tirole 10 Part I: What Happened? 11 Part II: How Should the Financial System Be Reformed? 47 Chapter 3: The Future of Banking Regulation by Jean-Charles Rochet 78 The Basel Accords 78 The Breakdown of the Basel Prudential Regime 86 The Necessary Reforms 100 Chapter 4: The Treatment of Distressed Banks by Mathias Dewatripont and Jean-Charles Rochet 107 Reforming Prudential Policy for Distressed Banks 110 Macroeconomic and Systemic Considerations 118 International Cooperation 122 References 131 Index 137