Crisis: One Central Bank Governor & the Global Financial Collapse

by Alan Bollard, Sarah Gaitanos

Written from the perspective of the governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, this informative chronicle is a firsthand account of the global financial and economic meltdown. This well-researched and dynamic study captures the drama of the events—from the overheated markets of 2007 through the collapse of investment banks and crises in multiple economies to the fragile recovery in New Zealand and the world in 2010—as politicians, bankers, and government officials struggled to deal with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Genres: Economics

216 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many books about the GFC, but for a New Zealander this is definitely an important one to read. For the most part it alternates paragraph by paragraph in explaining what happened from 2007 through 2012 on a worldwide basis, followed by what was happening in New Zealand at the same time.

The global perspective paragraphs I found to be almost like reading a textbook. It is all well explained, but it comes across more of a list of things that happened, which doesn't make for gripping reading. Compare that to The Alchemists by Irwin, who makes the events of the GFC very personal and memorable by describing the personalities behind the decisions. Bollard's account seems very dry by comparison.

However if you treat these paragraphs as required reading for the passages of the book describing the events in New Zealand, then they are completely forgivable. The stories behind the staff working at RBNZ, difficult decisions being made by the governor and hearing about some of the slightly less important details (lawyers convening at midnight with pizza to draft the deposit guarantee scheme etc) were parts that I found fascinating, and make the book worth reading.

The Eurozone crisis is also explained in the expanded edition. Again, while well explained, this can be read in more entertaining and interesting books. With little impact in New Zealand I didn't find the NZ chapters particularly interesting. An exception would be the reaction to the Christchurch earthquakes which happened in the same years.

All in all while parts can be a little dry when compared to some of the other bestsellers on the GFC (of which there are no shortage), this is definitely worth reading for the colourful New Zealand passages, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I wish more books were published like this in New Zealand.

[Ange · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is surprisingly accessible and readable. An interesting over view of the NZ economy at a challenging time, with the foucs on banking. Good information on NZ interest rates.

[R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but if you are looking for answers or detail, you won't find anything new here.