# Lord Mervyn King's new book, "The End of Alchemy," is spotlighted

1 Faculty News March 12, 2016 ![The Economist logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/uat_025662.jpg?itok=1_MW1PTy)>

Excerpt from [The Economist](http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21694496-former-governor-bank-england-reforming-global-finance-halfway-there?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/halfwaythere) -- "The problem leading up to the crisis, as Lord [King](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/mervyn-king) sees it, is that commercial banks had little incentive to hold large quantities of safe, liquid assets. They knew that in a panic, the central bank would provide liquidity, no matter the quality of their balance-sheets; in response they loaded up on risky investments."

[Read more](http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21694496-former-governor-bank-england-reforming-global-finance-halfway-there?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/halfwaythere)