The Dynamics of the Safety Net in Insurance: Trends and Challenges

In 2011, the size of the global financial system constituted approximately 370% of the global GDP. However, if derivative trade had been included this would have pushed the value of the global financial system to well above 1,200% of the global GDP for 2011. Assets of the banking sector alone represented 480% of GDP in the UK, 494% in Switzerland, 311% in Germany and 82% in the US (IMF, 2013, p. 12). This dramatic increase in the weight of the financial sector has been accomplished over the course of the last 20 years or so. In the UK, for example, until the end of the 1970s the share of banking assets represented only 50% of the country’s GDP and has only rocketed since the 1990s (Haldane, 2009). These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.