Learning from Historical Financial Crises

Learning from the financial crises of the past is vitally important for managing the risk of future crises. The financial catastrophe risk research programme at the Cambridge Centre for Risk Studies includes a track of research on historical crises, compiling a catalogue of relevant events from the past three centuries. Although financial systems and transaction technologies have changed, the underlying principles of credit cycles, human trust, and financial interrelationships that trigger crises remain relevant. This presentation by Dr Duncan Needham, Risk Researcher at the Centre for Risk Studies and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Financial History, provides an overview of the history of modern financial crises, and uses example crises of the past to illustrate important lessons for the future, for investment managers and financial risk officers everywhere.