This paper focuses on the many extreme credit default swap spread movements observed during the recent credit crisis and on how the tails of the spread (and price) change distribution significantly differ from those of the normal distribution even for diversified credit derivatives portfolios....

The global financial crisis of 2007-09 has led to an intensive research program analyzing a wide range of issues related to financial crises. This paper presents a summary of a forthcoming book, Financial Crises: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses, that includes 19 contributions...