Bootle: Five key failings of financial markets

Economist Roger Bootle has revealed what he believes are the five key failings of financial markets, which should provoke authorities to intervene with tighter regulation.

In a speech given to the Centre for Policy Studies, Bootle, the managing director of Capital Economics, said the failure of the regulatory system in the build-up to the market crash of 2008 was a "result of a universal belief in the efficient markets hypothesis, by regulators and financial institutions". Delivering a scathing criticism of the key players, Bootle says both regulators and financial institutions were too short-sighted and over-optimistic about the sustainability of returns before the crisis, and were guilty of displaying herd behaviour. He said: "Societies work best when...