US. The next financial crisis will be brought on by inadequate regulation, top economist says

  • Economists like Johns Hopkins University’s Lawrence Ball have expressed alarm over the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back Obama-era regulations put in place in the wake of the 2008 crash, namely the Dodd-Frank Act.
  • But many banking professionals believe it’s time to cast off some of Dodd-Frank’s rules, arguing that allowing lenders to provide more credit would boost the economy.
  • Now, with a greater debt burden than in 2008, record low interest rates and highly accommodative monetary easing, many like Ball worry there won’t be enough gas in the tank if things start to break down again.

We haven’t learned the lessons of the 2008 financial crash, a leading economist told CNBC on Monday.

Speaking on “Squawk Box Europe,” Lawrence Ball, the Johns Hopkins University economics professor and author of the book “The Fed and Lehman Brothers: Setting the Record Straight on a Financial Disaster” spelled out his fears for today’s economy.

While some economists believe that the improvements made since 2008 should prevent a similar crisis, and many market players lament what they see as over-regulation, Ball stressed what he felt was the necessity of robust rules in the banking industry.

Asked what his greatest fear was for financial markets, he replied: “Another crisis similar to or worse than what we saw 10 years ago because of inadequate regulation or unwillingness to have the government and Fed step in when they need to.”

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