Impunity and Capitalism: The Afterlives of European Financial Crises, 1690–1830 by Trevor Jackson

The Great Financial Crisis of 2008 resulted in a deep recession and millions of jobs lost, and, in some countries, the lost output has never been caught up. This was not the result of an extraneous event like a hurricane or an earthquake: It was manmade, with its epicenter in the banking sector and transmitted through financial markets. Our natural urge to deal with disasters assigns blame to human actors, and we may wish to punish them for the sake of justice or, less vengefully, deterrence. But should we, can we, and how do we hold accountable those responsible for financial crises with such large consequences? To answer these questions, we need to round up an economist, a lawyer, an accountant, and perhaps a philosopher. They might first say that such questions are not new, for neither are financial crises. What answers, if any, did our ancestors give? Now we...