a) There clearly was a huge amount of criminal behavior that contributed to the crisis. The presenters appear to approach the subject half-heartedly, and focus their energies on disproving the possibility without sufficiently examining it.

b) A lot of the review questions focus on remembering facts rather than on understanding the causes and effects. For example, what is the relevance of being able to remember that job losses at the height of the crisis were of the order of 880k a month or 200k a month??

c) It is obvious to anyone with even trivial financial expertise that the financial system today is weaker than it was before the crisis. The too big to fail are bigger today (by a large margin) and interest rates are too low (remember the search for yield was the motivation for the creation of the exotic securities which blew up the system). Secy Geithner's focus in week 8 comes across as a personal defence of his actions rather an objective analysis of what was done and should have been done.

A strong overview of the crisis that balances the depth and breadth of the material well.

Strengths:

Balance of narrative and data.

Logical sequencing gives a nice structure and a more digestible package.

Excellent level of detail, neither missing the forest for the trees nor ignoring the trees altogether.

Weaknesses:

Does not address alternative theories or interpretations of the crisis, even to shoot them down.

Several quizzes were poorly-constructed, featuring obvious typos or nonsensical statements.

Additional module to update the material (stale since mid-2015) was promised, but not delivered.

The material is meticulously explained in a calm , experienced manner. Readings add depth and further support graphs and lecture. What an interesting time to be learning about the crisis of 08-09

A well-paced primer on various terminology in banking and finance. But while considering the various causes - understates the risk in various financial assets, does not consider into account various factors such as human error and shady machinations in the investment banking industry(Conflict of interest, resistance to regulations), predatory lending. And does not talk about the Behind The Scenes of most of the major falls - just touches on the topics at face value which raises more questions than it answers.

The course gives us a comprehensive perspective on what happened during the GFC 2008-2009 both in the US and the Eurozone, the lessons learned will be very fundamental for Central Bankers like me.

Just completed this course in a 2-week whirlwind. The structure is very conducive to watching a couple of hours to finish half a week in one sitting, or also (if you prefer) more bite-sized portions of learning.

Andrew Metrick and Tim Geithner are highly knowledgeable and engaging teachers with a lightness of touch that conceals a masterful grasp of their subject. They use apt analogies to break down what are, in some cases, quite complex financial constructions to make them comprehensible to a lay audience (while my education was in the sciences, I consider myself a novice in economics and finance - though perhaps not any more). I found myself looking up the occasional phrase or acronym but almost every specialist term was fully defined in the lectures.

One of the highlights of the course was having a direct insight from someone who was, not just there on the ground in '07-'09, but in many ways the conductor of the US response to the crisis. Having Secretary Geithner as a lecturer initially sold me on this course, and I was not disappointed. There is a messiness to the GFC that can be overwhelming in some of the deep dives, as you might expect with such a complex historical event, but in the final lectures he brings it together with some simple (and reassuring) rules about how a government might proceed in the future, in the knowledge that crises do occur and cannot be predicted. Geithner has the bearing of a financial Confucian; quiet and thoughtful, yet exacting; emphasising fiscal and financial prudence for governments and bank-like institutions, while showing compassion and concern for those citizens that bore the brunt of the crisis. I hope and expect that some of these important teachings are enshrined and elevated to the high status that they deserve.

A little long and repetitive, but very in depth. Yale is by far the best at the videos and getting guest speakers that are interesting. Definitely feel well informed about the global financial crisis and the origins of financial crises in general.

My country, Nigeria is taking on a lot of debt from China and I feel almost every citizen should learn about how greed and bubble thinking can lead to Financial Crisis exercebated by short-sighted Government approach to Economics and slow-walking by Congress . I might not agree with the Secetary Of treasury under President Obama on many things but it was such a great course to analyze what went wrong from his perspective leading up to the Great Financial crisis. The Lead Professor was quite simply world class in his delivery.

Extremely insightful course. Financial crisis analysed really well and explained in very simple terms. Something that has been missing in various book, movies,etc ( on the crisis ).

Must course for every individual.

Excellent course on the GFC, I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about the crisis. The instructors were very good and took a complex subject and made it very understandable.

This course was excellent. The short yet crisp lectures have given me a fair perspective of what came before, during and to an extent after the GFC. I feel I will greatly benefit from this knowledge.

Interesting course. Would have been better if it was not based on data from 4 years ago.

On the technical side, please fix Mr. Geithner's mike. His perpetually audible deep exhalation is mildly distracting.

Thank you!

Quantas informaçõeers ouvimos ao assitir um jornal por exemplo e deixamos passar desapercebido por não compreender o impacto que tal informação tem em nossas vidas?

E temos a tendência em não nos informamos de questões que acontecem no exterior, por achar é o que isso pode me afetar, seja por questão de egoísmo ou por ignorância não sei descrever.

Ao conversar com algumas pessoas percebo que algumas pessoas não se atentam a muitas questões é um delas e a fquestão financeira do nosso país. Como a nosssa questão econômica afetas todas as áreas.

Esse Curso me trouxe vários gatilhos e muitos questionamentos pessoais.

Foi gratificante entender um pouco de um assunto tão complexo.

Uma nova percepção para informações até então desconhecidas.

A didática do curso trás muitas questões válidas para o nosso contexto atual.

El curso permite interactuar con conceptos económicos, sociales y políticos; lo cual me brinda un pensamiento mas holístico y proponer soluciones integrales desde el ámbito humano sobre todo, ya que si pensamos que dejando de lado el impacto y efecto que logran tener políticas y normas orientadas a la capitalización, recaudación y acumulación, sobre el ser humano, no vamos a tener éxito en una armonía financiera futura, desarrollada y equilibrada...de la cual es difícil que las personas sobrevivan.

Una herramienta poderosa es la educación financiera regulada, controlada y supervisada: además de la ética de gobierno, las cuales deben confluir y armonizar las herramientas necesarias para evitar eventos lamentables que duran en el tiempo, y que pueden desestabilizar un pais o region.

My selves being in the middle of the financial crisis and working for a sovereign financial institution without having a major stake on the line is like being at war without a license to kill or die for.

I think both T. Geithner and A Metrick gave us a very realistic and honest picture of the current affairs of the Global Economic Crisis from 2007 and on wards.

Considering Geithners special position as Secretary of the Treasury at the time it is therefore very firsthand and insightful information however there is always the risk of contamination from what was done as opposed to what could have been done.

Great Course - a must for economists!

Best – Henrik Gjerning, Data Scientist and Economist

The breadth and width of topics covered in this course met my high expectations (it is Yale after all), but it would be nice if the course could be updated (I wouldn't mind paying more) with extra materials added in (or perhaps a new course or courses, "The GFC, Part II/III") for the past few years as I get the feeling this course was created in 2014. In addition, it would be nice if Secretary Geithner could have taught an extra week or two, and go more into the years leading to the GFC and the years immediately after it from his point of view. As a final suggestion, if there was a Yale specialization for market stress (or similar), including this course, I'd be all over it.

Best material I could ever find related to Global Financial Crisis. As a student of Economics, this course was very helpful it is must for someone who just wants to know what happened in an easy to understand and practical manner.

Both the faculties are of very high stature and have closely observed the crisis. Professor Andrew is a financial economist and explains beautifully the events and timeline of GFC and Professor Geithner was himself involved in all policy reactions and his role has been highly appreciated worldwide as President of New York Fed. Awesome experience really. Thanks Coursera. It's like a dream come true to be taught by such eminent personalities.

This course has been of great benefit to me as a professional. These were intense and fruitful days, within which I learned a lot and received an invaluable analyze and financial experience. I am grateful to all those who have offered me financial knowledge and precious suggestions, in particular to Mr. Andrew Metrick, Professor of Finance and Management, to Mr. Timothy F.Geithner, to Yale School of Management and Coursera team, who encouraged and supported the drafting of this course. I recommend this course to people who want to take their financial and analyze knowledge to a higher level, accelerate their goals and increase their winning as a economist.

A topic that you've heard pieces of, read headlines about, and heard plenty of opinions on... but to truly dig into the mathematics and behavior behind a generation defining event was incredible. The content was delivered logically, and in a way that leads the student to think on their own. Students are pushed to think why certain events had the consequences that they did. Historical behavior, market reaction, and the impact on the future are all evaluated and discussed. It's a behavioral macroeconomic course that uses the financial crisis as it's exhibit A. I recommend this course to anyone participating the financial or labor markets today.

This is the greatest course I've ever attend. The knowledge and expertise of the Prof. Metrick and Mr.Geithner is over expectations. The course is very complex, well delivered (with simple and understandable language, reasoning and supporting materials), information is extremely concentrated, and huge knowledge of the authors is felt behind the scenes. The only think I lack is off-line (real life) attendance to the discussion with authors on questions that arise during the course. Hope, once I'll have an opportunity to attend Mr. Geithner and Mr. Metrics lectures and seminars and/or Yale university other real life courses