Are macroeconomic factors such as income inequality the real root causes of financial crises? We explore a variety of financial and macroeconomic variables to find the most reliable predictors for financial crises in 14 developed countries over a period of more than 100 years. Our results, based...

Recent studies by Atkinson (2011); Rajan (2010); Kumhof and Ranciére (2010); Bordo and Meissner (2013) have assessed the relationship between income inequality and financial stability. Bordo and Meissner found that changes in income inequality do not have an effect on the growth of credit. We...