Breaking the Bank?

In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, governments introduced stress tests to measure and monitor banks’ health. Breaking the Bank? assesses whether the EU‑wide banking stress test is a good regulatory tool. It deals with some of the key questions that still linger about the exercise: do the benefits of the stress test outweigh the enormous cost? Is it tough enough on banks? And, does it tell us which banks are healthy or not?

Beyond the scope of the stress test, the book addresses how indicators are made and to what effect. This is increasingly important as indicators are produced through socio-political power plays and negotiations. Before we can use these indicators in policy and public debate, we need to understand where they come from and what they do.