It is now clear that most economists underestimated the widening economic impact of the credit crunch that has shaken American financial markets since at least mid-July. A credit crunch is an economic condition in which loans and investment capital are difficult to obtain; in such a period,...

The ongoing financial crisis so far cost the German financial sector 38 billion Euros due to losses on its mortgage-related subprime bank exposures. This paper looks for the impact of these losses on the real sector of the economy. First, the financial sector is looked at as part of the overall...

Introduction -- Efficient markets and central banks? -- Money, banks and central banks -- Stable and unstable markets -- Deceiving the diligent -- On (central bank) governors -- Minsky meets Mandelbrot -- Beyond the efficient market fallacy -- Concluding remarks