Global financial crisis: analysis of economic policy, 2008-2016

This chapter covers the macroeconomic aspects of the Global Financial Crisis, the subsequent Great Recession/Lesser Depression and the policy responses in developed and developing countries. DESA was one of the first international bodies to recognize the impending threat of financial crisis and to advocate the use of Keynesian fiscal stimulus. In the aftermath of the crisis, the goal of most international institutions was to seek an early return to pre-crisis ‘normality’. This was reflected in a rapid turn towards fiscal consolidation, justified by the expectation that private sector expansion would offset public sector austerity. By contrast, WESP correctly warned of the dangers of a premature end to fiscal stimulus