Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics at Harvard and former adviser to the IMF

The recapitalisation of the banks, particularly the more aggressive British scheme, is almost certainly going to be helpful in stemming the immediate panic although, as the world sinks into recession, further financial trauma is a near certainty. In any event, the current crisis hardly marks the end of financial globalisation, which will surely resume in due course, albeit at a slower pace than in the last decade. We are bound to see stronger regulatory oversight and eventually greater international coordination of regulation

Francis Fukuyama, professor of international political economy at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

A huge amount of populist anger is brewing as the Wall Street meltdown spreads to Main Street. Already there is a growing consensus on the need to regulate many parts of the economy. Globally the US will not enjoy the hegemonic position it has occupied until now . . . America’s ability to shape the global economy through trade pacts and the IMF and World Bank will be diminished . . . in many parts of the world American ideas, advice and even aid will become less welcome

Anatol Lieven, senior research fellow at the New America Foundation

This crisis has finished off the Washington consensus [the view that free-market reforms must trump state-run economies]. We are going to see much greater state intervention. That doesn’t mean there’s a new economic model to replace the old one. It’s still much too early to know if China’s authoritarian capitalism, as one example, is the wave of the future

Charles Goodhart, emeritus professor of banking and finance at the London School of Economics

What has happened so far is still relatively mild compared to the early 1970s. But it’s getting worse. The government has to be prepared to run, as it will, quite large deficits. One of the things that will go is the 3% limit on deficits set out in the Maastricht treaty. Who knows what the European commission will do about that. It was always stupid and is now idiotic and has to be rethought

Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard and author of the The Ascent of Money

Given the immensity of the crisis, a Congress-approved bailout may be just a short-term fix. But a short-term fix is better than no fix. If nothing else, it would signal to the world that – unlike in 1930 – the US is doing what it can to avoid financial calamity and sidestep depression

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