Chapter 1Governing in an Age of Transformation

Donald F. Kettl

As American financial markets were crumbling in fall 2008, I had the chance to catch up with a friend. A very senior career official in a European nation, he had been watching closely—and nervously—the collapse of several investment banks and the drop in the stock market. “Has this affected your country much?” I asked. “Well, so far, not much,” he replied. “We have very good financial regulation and a sound banking system, and I think we will be okay.” When our lunch ended, we shook hands, I wished him luck, and he left for the airport. By the time he got home, everything had changed. The financial crisis had followed him across the Atlantic, and, like many other senior officials ...

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