A first-hand account of the 2007-09 global financial and economic meltdown, as experienced, observed and interpreted by Alan Bollard, Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. The book backgrounds the crisis, then takes readers from the over-heated markets of 2007, through the collapse of investment banks and crises in multiple economies and on to the recovery of the world economy. Dr Bollard describes the crisis in human terms as systems, relationships and personal stamina are put to the test, capturing the drama as politicians, bankers and government officials work out how to deal with the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.