My Financial Times column this week is about Bear Stearns and how it was not merely a victim of the credit crisis because its leaders brought it on themselves. You can read it here and comment below.  Read more

Time lends perspective and having a couple of days to absorb about how the Federal Reserve acted over Bear Stearns has helped to clarify its intervention policy, which was devised on the hoof over the weekend.

Although there was a lot of worry about moral hazard – the US government protecting those who should not be protected from their financial errors – the Fed clearly tried to avoid it. It wanted to prop up Bear to avoid a fire-sale of its mortgage securities but did not want to give too much comfort to others. Read more