Book Forum 

# *Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises and Scarce Credit*

### (Princeton University Press, 2014) 

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Date and Time 

September 8, 2014 5 - 6:30 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium 

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##### Featuring 

Featuring the author **Charles Calomiris**, Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions, Columbia Business School; with comments by **Andrew Olmem**, Partner, Venable LLP; moderated by **Mark Calabria**, Director, Financial Regulation Studies, Cato Institute. 

[[![Media Name: fragile-by-design-cover.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/optimized/public/images/fragile-by-design-cover.jpg?itok=1D0me-qq)](/sites/cato.org/files/images/fragile-by-design-cover.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Design-Political-Princeton-Economic/dp/0691155240/?tag=catoinstitute-20)

In the wake of the 2008–2009 financial crisis a pervasive view began to emerge of banking as an inherently unstable occupation that must be tightly regulated and monitored by government agencies. Charles Calomiris and co-author Stephen Haber overturn this notion by presenting an inconvenient truth: not all countries suffer systemic banking crises. Some countries have managed to create a system that provides abundant credit without the propensity for banks to fail. So what is their secret? The answer is equally simple: The well-being of a banking sector depends on the ability of political institutions to limit rent-seeking by populist groups. Join the Cato Institute for a lively discussion of the true causes of the financial crisis and whether in light of the evidence presented by the authors the antidote (Dodd-Frank) causes more problems than it solves.

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