Three weeks ago, thousands of depositors queued on the streets outside branches of Northern Rock to take their money out. Those scenes, broadcast around the world, were shocking. How did they come about and how can we prevent them in future? My focus tonight will be on why the incentives facing banks, investors, and depositors led them to behave as they did. Most of what happened can be understood in terms of those incentives. And, if we are to create a structure for our banking system so that