Causes and Consequences of the World Financial Crisis 2008: A Historical Perspective

Abstract: This paper situates the 2008 Global Financial Crisis into the wider historical context to argue that the roots of the crisis can be traced back to the dominant economic ideology in the West during the 1970s. It shows that the corresponding financial policies, implemented by the powerful western economies during the four decades that preceded the crisis, created an institutional framework that fostered financial irresponsibility and made the crisis all but inevitable. The paper also explores the ideas that led to the stabilization of the global market as well as the role of China in charting the way ahead. Ultimately, the discussion highlights the inherent tendency of neoliberal economic ideology to create market instabilities whose consequences for the global economy can be devastating.