The sub-prime crisis began in mid-2007 as a bursting of the US housing market bubble and became a truly global meltdown in 2008. Renewed instability in financial markets precipitated awareness of how policy makers must react to systemic failures. This paper discusses the primary policy issues...

In this paper, asset price bubbles in equities and housing that were developed from August 1987 to September 2008 are examined. Monetary policy reaction functions are estimated. Results revealed that, although not successful in pricking the bubble, the Federal Reserve System did follow a...

Fiscal problems have long been considered a central feature of financial--that is, currency, debt, and banking--crises. This paper addresses four questions: What are the fiscal causes of crises? Which fiscal vulnerability indicators help to predict crises? Can fiscal variables explain the...

The current crisis calls for two main sets of policy measures. First, measures to repair the financial system. Second, measures to increase demand and restore confidence. While some of these measures overlap, the focus of this note is on the second set of policies, and more specifically, given...

The proposition that the Global Financial Crisis was inherently unpredictable is a recurrent theme amongst those charged with preventing such events. It is also a convenient untruth. A Netherlands academic did a rather better survey of the literature than Governor Stevens, to identify 12...

The recent onset of the most severe, synchronised global economic slump since the 1930s depression has rekindled controversies over the contradictory ?laws of motion? of capitalism and the very nature of capitalist money in the wake of the global financial meltdown, which preceded the slump. The...

This abstract reviews the recommendations made in the FSAP Update for Sweden in the areas of contingency planning, crisis management, and bank resolution. Although Sweden crisis management fared well during the global financial crisis, its authorities are reviewing the framework for managing...

This note explores the costs and benefits of different policy options to reduce the risks associated with credit booms, drawing upon several country experiences and the findings from econometric analysis.