This paper provides a brief analysis of three major questions raised in the context of the recent global financial crisis. First, how similar is the crisis to previous episodes? We argue that the crisis featured some close similarities to earlier ones, including the presence of credit and asset...

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of financial cycles using a large database covering 21 advanced countries over the period 1960:1-2007:4. Specifically, we analyze cycles in credit, house prices, and equity prices. We report three main results. First, financial cycles tend to be long...

"We provide a comprehensive empirical characterization of the linkages between key macroeconomic and financial variables around business and financial cycles, for 21 OECD countries over the period 1960-2007. In particular, we analyse the implications of 122 recessions, 113 (28) credit...