The root cause of the crisis was a widespread undervaluation of risk. This included an underpricing of the unit of risk and an underassessment of the quantity of risk that financial operators took upon themselves. Several policymakers had indicated during 2006 and early 2007 that market participants needed to prepare for a significant correction. As chairman of the global economy meetings of central bank governors, I myself reported my colleagues' sentiments on this matter. At the same time, several financial stability reports, including from the European Central Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, the Financial Stability Forum and other organisations, had analysed vulnerabilities and warned of the emerging weaknesses.
此次危機的根源在於風險被廣泛低估，其中包括單位風險定價過低，以及金融業經營者自身承擔的風險數量被低估。2006年至2007年初，幾位決策者曾指出，市場參與者需要爲大幅回調做準備。作爲由央行行長參加的全球經濟會議的主席，我本人曾述說過我的同事們對這一問題的看法。同時，一些金融穩定報告（包括歐洲央行(ECB)、國際結算銀行(BIS)、金融穩定論壇(Financial Stability Forum)以及其它機構的報告）對市場脆弱性進行了分析，並對正在出現的薄弱之處提出了警告。