The Global Financial Crisis in Comparative Perspective: Have Policy Makers Learnt Their Lessons?

Have policy makers “learnt their lesson” from the global financial crisis that began in 2007? This article addresses this question by examining the regulatory responses to the global financial crisis in the European Union, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Theoretically, the article is informed by an advocacy coalition approach to policy change and learning. Methodologically, it process-traces regulatory and supervisory changes in the selected jurisdictions, identifying the main coalitions at play, their belief systems, policy learning across coalitions and within coalitions, as well as the conditions that promoted or slowed down learning. Some of the findings can be generalised to other countries and policy areas.