...behind the financial crisis will take decades to develop. If the Great Depression is any guide, studies of what really caused this crisis will occupy economists’ minds for a long time to come. The crisis started in the US and spread through financial and real economic channels to the rest of the world but countries with weak initial economic position were hit the worst. Some causes of the crisis can thus be found in the macroeconomic policies of the past years. However, failures in the financial system, particularly in the US, were at the root of the problem. In the following we try to explain some of the most important causes of the crisis. 1. Financial market causes a. Financial Innovation: The term financial innovation refers to the ongoing development of financial products designed to achieve particular client objectives, such as offsetting a particular risk exposure (such as the default of a borrower) or to assist with obtaining financing. The dramatic expansion in the use of financial products leads up to the crisis. Examples pertinent to this crisis included: the adjustable-rate mortgage; the bundling of subprime mortgages into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) or collateralized debt obligations (CDO) for sale to investors, a type of securitization; and a form of credit insurance called credit default swaps(CDS). These products vary in complexity and the ease with which they can be valued on the books of financial institutions. Another financial innovation...
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...The financial crisis of 2008 rocked the global economy. As one major investment bank went bankrupt, other American financial services institutions were in poor health due to their own banking practices. However, these practices occurred due to the failure of government regulators. Ronald Reagan’s plan to stimulate the American economy in the wake of the 1980s recession led to sweeping deregulation in the financial services sector (Komai) (Inside). This deregulation and the failure to properly enforce regulatory powers by those in the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department led to increasingly risky behavior by banks (Inside) (Das) (Rajan). The repeal of The Glass-Steagall Act in the late 90s meant that the banks engaging in these risky operations were larger than ever before and were using depositors’ money in order to trade for the benefit of the firm rather than its clients (Roubini) (Rajan) (Sorkin) and it is that risky behavior that ultimately led to the near collapse of the world’s economy. Although banking leadership must be held responsible for the practices that many institutions in the financial services sector engaged in (Sorkin), the failure to adequately regulate the banking industry gave banks the opportunities to engage in the behavior that caused the crisis (Inside) (Rajan) (Taylor). In the years since the crisis, and as the global economy continues in its efforts to recover, many have called for strict reform of Wall Street regulations (Acharya). Legislative...
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...Securitization Mortgage Backed Securities Collateralized Debt Obligation Credit Default Swap Government Reaction and Policies Emergency TARP Repercussions Basel Disadvantages Future Policy Requirements Controversy Conclusion Reference List Review of the causes of the 2008 Financial Crisis in US. Abstract This paper seeks to summarize a stream of research that has delved into the major causes of the financial crisis in 2008. More precisely, we will be looking at a combination of causes such as the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the mortgage backed security, the collateralized debt obligation as well as how the incidental credit-default swap contributed to the incident. This paper will begin from analyzing the past, when it happened and how it built up and resulted in the financial crisis. The significance of this literature review seeks to give a simplified explanation of the financial crisis of 2008 and will be useful for the people unversed in economics or finance but wish to have a basic understanding of its causes and history. The Tech Bubble During the early 2000, numerous companies and individuals bought new operating systems that were Y2K-ready in fear that the “Y2K” problem would cause computer systems to malfunction. This had allowed technology companies to generate obscene amounts of revenue. At one point, the telecommunications giant, Nortel, owned one third of the stock markets in Canada (Wahl 2009). As a result, stock prices of these companies...
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...Causes of the Indonesian Financial Crisis When the financial crisis hit Asian countries in mid-1997, Indonesia did not escape the impact. It became one of the worst hit countries during the crisis. The question to be answered is what really caused Indonesia, which at the time had a magnificent economic growth to collapse along with most of Asian countries. This paper studies the factors that may be causing the crisis and how the combination of them could lead to such crisis. Indonesia’s Economy before the Crisis * Indonesia under the governance of President Suharto was considered a growing and vastly developing country, with a 7.9% growth in GDP in 1996. GDP per capita first surpassed $1000 in 1995, growing significantly from mere $70 thirty years ago. Total GDP was US$227 billion in 1996. (exhibit 1) * Surplus on merchandise trade through the 1980s and 1990s. Manufactured exports grew from less than US$1 billion in 1980 to more than US$9 billion in 1990. In 1996 total exports was US$49.8 billion, with a growth of 9.7% from the previous year. 76.5% are from non-oil and gas exports. Main destinations were Japan followed by USA and Singapore. * In 1996, imports totaled US$42.9 billion, grew 5.7% from the previous year. * Indonesia was the third-largest FDI recipient in the Asia Pacific, averaging over US$31 billion per year from 1994 to 1996. In 1997 before the crisis, FDI was US$16 billion. * In 1991, foreign debt increased 66% from 1988. In 1992, the total...
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...acid which makes up the genes for all living things) is extracted from one organism to put it in another organism’s DNA, therefore it introduces in hereditary traits into the receiver organism (“How Stuff Works”). The nature and characteristics of all living things are determined by special combinations of genes that are carried in their cells, therefore the least changes or alteration can bring a major amount of changes in an organism and its offspring (“How Stuff Works”). Genetic Engineering does not only consist in plants, animal breeding and fertilization of crops it also includes polyploidy (organism which two sets of homologous chromosomes), mutagenesis (process in which the organisms genetic material is changed in sable manner that causes mutation), and cell fusion techniques which does not involve recombinant nucleic acid or genetically modified organism in the process (Wikipedia). Cloning and stem cells also do take a part in Genetic Engineering (Wikipedia). Advances in Genetic Engineering are also playing an important role for agricultural and economic welfare. GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), the prospect of Genetic engineering amongst agricultural brought some benefits like increasing crop yields, reduction cost for food and drug manufacturing, moderates the needs for pesticides, improved the configuration of nutrients and food quality, great amount of food safety and provides medical benefits the world’s increasing population (“Nature”). Advances have also...
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...What are the causes of the global financial crisis? Name: Course: Tutor: Date: What are the causes of the global financial crisis? Introduction Achieving stability has always been the number one priority in any county or organization. Financial stability is probably one of the most sort after achievement everywhere in the world. When a country or company fails to attaining financial stability then things are deemed to go wrong. The global financial crisis brought about the worst kind of financial instability in the global economy. It started in the United States and spread all over the world like wild fire. Even the top performing economies in Asia like China were not left out. This economic turbulence brought about both economic and social hardships (Helleiner,1994) . This was partly blamed on the already established Capitalist ideologies that prevailed especially in the United States. This crisis exposed most economies to financial difficulties as it proved the dependence of most nations on dollar denominated financial transactions. The only way to salvage these economies was through fiscal and monetary interventions by the Governments of the day. Bail-out packages were presented to major economy drivers and industries to help ease the financial crisis that had affected their operation. The collapsing of large financial institutions like the Lehman Brothers bank brought about a lot of chaos in the industry. Large bailout packages were used to help revive...
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...Abstract The United States is going through one of the most serious financial crisis’ since the 1930’s. As a result, many people are losing their jobs and some companies are filing for bankruptcy. There are many causes that may have led to this financial crisis. Some include Bush’s investment in the Iraq war, subprime lending awards mortgages to people with poor credit, defaults on loans force banks to raise equity, but most importantly, greed. Not only is there a crisis going on in the United States, but there is a crisis occurring globally also. Bush and his investment in the Iraq war could be a cause to this financial crisis. Prices of everything have gone up and people have to spend more money on items so this causes them to be unable to pay off debts of loans to the banks. When that occurs, banks take a low blow because they miss out on the money. So many people are losing their houses due to lack of income banks. They have to pay the remaining money to the town/government. So after paying the houses of so many people, the banks go bankrupt. If banks go bankrupt, there wouldn’t be anyone to lend money to businesses. There wouldn’t be any jobs if there aren't any businesses. This all leads to no income. The war in Iraq increased oil prices, which increased service prices because everything needs to be delivered in cars or trucks so people have to pay more for goods. But they aren't getting paid more money so they end up losing money. This graph is showing the real...
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...“What were the cause of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009” The 2008 financial crisis led to a sharp increase in mortgage foreclosures primarily subprime leading to a collapse in several mortgage lenders. Recurrent foreclosures and the harms of subprime mortgages were caused by loose lending practices, housing bubble, low interest rates and extreme risk taking. Additionally, expert analysis on the 2008 financial crisis asserts that the cause was also due to erroneous monetary policy moves and poor housing policies. The federal government encouraged the expansion of risky mortgages to under-qualified borrowers. Congress pushed for the support of affordable housing through extended procurement of non-prime loans for applicants with low income (Zandi, 2008). The cutting down of interest rates to low levels to supplement for technology bubble of early twentieth century and the effects of Sept 11, a housing bubble was created. This move facilitated individuals with poor credit to obtain mortgages in high percentage when lenders created non-conventional mortgages by offering mortgages with extensive amortization periods, loans with interest and payment alternatives such as ARMs. Ultimately, interest rates rose again and many subprime borrowers stopped paying for their mortgages when their interest rate were reset to higher monthly payments. Subprime mortgage is simply defined as loan offered to someone with a weak credit history. Since the 2008 financial crisis had its source...
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...The sub-prime crisis of has led to a financial crisis in 2008-2009 that impacted many countries around the world. Discuss the cause of the sub-prime crisis and the major parties responsible. A number of parties were responsible for the sub-prime crisis during the period of 2008 to 2009. This essay will be discussing the parties responsible for the sub-prime crisis and how the individual party’s action causes the others to step deeper into the problem. As define by investopedia, sub-prime is “a classification of borrowers with a tarnished or limited credit history. Lenders will use a credit scoring system to determine which loans a borrower may qualify for. Subprime loans carry more credit risk, and as such, will carry higher interest rates as well.” The US subprime mortgage crisis was the catalysis of the finical crisis and subsequently cause the recession that began in 2008. The cause of sub-prime crisis arise from sub-prime loans or also know as sub-prime mortgage, the growth of this loan started expanding during the 1990s and such load is popularly seen in auto (car) loans, home equity (housing loans) and mortgage lending. Sub-prime loans are higher-risk loans labeled “B”, “C” and D credits, where “D” being the “worst”, resulting in a higher interest rate, which also mean a higher risk to the lenders. But it seem not to be a hindering problem, from the point of view of the finical institute who lend out the money, which will be explained later in this essay. In...
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...A period of economic difficulty that consumers and markets are experiencing world-widely is known as global financial crisis (BusinessDictionary, 2015). It occurs when there is an increase in asymmetric information coming from disruptions in financial system that is interrupting the funds from channelling efficiently between savers and households as well as preventing firms from having productive investment opportunities (Mishkin and Eakins, 2012, pp. 204). The recent global financial crisis began in the year of 2007 and the intensity increased in the subsequent year. Global financial crisis in 2007 happened as result of a number of factors such as government mandated subprime lending, imprudent mortgage lending, housing bubble, securitization and a few other more factors, which will be discussed. Causes The government mandated subprime lending has contributed to the financial crisis by promoting affordable housing under Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Through affordable housing, banks were encouraged to participate in imprudent mortgage lending as mandated by the federal in order to help low-income borrowers, which imprudent mortgage lending is another cause that contributed to the global financial crisis (Jickling, 2009). As a result of mortgage lending, low-income families are able to purchase houses that they are not be able to afford to purchase without the policy. The loans require low or no down payments and limited documentation...
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...Global Lessons from the Recent Financial Crisis: Need for Reforms Jason Khan – 212857264 Yiwen Shen – 212828810 Alexander Grynszpan – 212811618 Xueyan wu - 212828380 INTRODUCTION Mortgage Backed Securities Lack of Regulations in the Banking System Lack of Regulations in the Credit Rating Agencies Subprime Mortgages Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 Lack of Regulations of over-thecounter derivatives Introduction to the Financial Crisis Causes of the Financial Crisis Reforms introduced International response Conclusion Cause: Subprime Mortgage - Housing prices were on the rise à More difficult for consumers to purchase - Investment banks purchased the mortgages from individual lenders, re-packaged them, and sold them to an even larger quantity of small and large investors - Borrowed money to magnify the outcome à Created collateral debt obligations (CDO) - Mortgages were sometimes given without down payments, or assurance of repayments - When the housing bubble “popped”, investment banks held massive debts without means of paying them à led to declaration of bankruptcy Introduction to the Financial Crisis Causes of the Financial Crisis Reforms introduced International response Conclusion Cause: Mortgage backed securities - Important players in the Crisis: Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), or as known as Fanny Mae ad Freddy Mac - Through mortgage backed...
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...Introduction: This paper reviews macroeconomic causes of financial crisis in 2008. The economist had difficulty for seeing the systematic risk because of the unregulated new financial instruments such as credit default swap and derivatives securities. The Federal Reserve Bank was responsible for the financial crisis due to large amount of money flow in the United States. Thus, US needed to implement the monetary policy in order to overcome from the financial crisis. This paper drafted the causes of financial crisis analyzed by the macroeconomist and drafted by the American Bar Association. The Federal Reserve Bank kept the interest rates historic lows due to recession in 2000-2002. The low interest rates causes the unwanted money supply and this excess credit was invested heavily in the United States in the form of treasury securities and financial derivatives that leaded to bubble in commodities and houses prices. This paper examines the Federal Reserve monetary and fiscal policy during and prior to course of recession in 2008. The economy had faced at least three crises since 2008, fiscal crisis, financial crisis and unemployment crisis. These crises are interrelated. The unemployment crisis during 2008 has causes the fiscal deficit at the frightening level. The economy is still facing the unemployment and fiscal crises. The unemployment rate remains high in the world and the fiscal problem in Europe has not been fully resolved. The Fiscal Policy: The fiscal policy played...
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...2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS Name Course Date 1. Background The financial crisis commenced in August 2007 after the preceding inflation. The crisis became more defined throughout 2007 and gained momentum in 2008. This took place even after the financial regulators and the central banks’ tireless attempts to tame the situation. It is alleged that the main factors that influenced its manifestation include corruption, fraud, speculation, greed, bankers and bankers’ bonuses. However, the academic discourse, politics or media has been unable to solve the mystery surrounding the main causes of the crisis[1]. The mystery is academically relevant to the world of research just like the Great Depression, whose causes are still being discussed. Other sources believe that the crisis might have been as a cause of human failures especially following the refusal to bail out the Investment Bank Lehman Brothers. The housing bubble was the immediate trigger of the 2008 financial crisis. The following were the triggers under the housing bubble. I. Subprime lending A subprime mortgage is the mortgage that is readily acceptable without imposing strict measures of standard on it. Before the 2008 financial crisis, there existed a fierce competition between mortgage lenders. The competition between the mortgage lenders ensued from the struggle for market share and revenue. It also took place in tandem with limited supply of creditworthy borrowers which put unconditional stress...
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...about the term financial crisis. Every day on the news we can hear about the financial crisis in some countries and how they are trying to prevent it or to get out of it. Especially about the financial crisis in Greece. So what exactly is financial crisis? There have been a lot of definition of what financial crisis is, but they all agree in one thing financial crisis appears when some institution or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, many financial crises were associated with banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these panics. Other situations that are often called financial crisis include stock market crashes and the bursting of other financial bubbles, currency crises and sovereign defaults. There a lot of types of financial crisis: banking crisis, speculative bubbles and crushes, wilder economic crisis and other crisis. But from all of them, today the most frequent financial crisis is the banking crisis. This happens when a lot of the depositors withdraw their deposits from the bank, causing the bank to bankrupt. This kind of crisis happened in 2007-2008,also known as the global financial crisis and 2008 financial crisis. This crisis is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. This crisis was called the worst because it was spreading really quickly all around the world. But what causes this kind of crisis to happen? There a lot of causes that bring...
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...aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007, there has been a great deal of debate regarding the key underlying causes. For example, when people discuss the collapse of the financial markets, the most frequently mentioned word is subprime mortgagewhich is considered as the culprit of the crisis. Yet, is subprime mortgage the root of the crisis? If it was, then the question would be how this type of financial product, which is only marginal part of the financial market, could cause such a catastrophic crisis. Specifically, systemic risk was developed. Essentially, subprime mortgage is a mere part of superficial reasons of the crisis and was induced by other underlying factors which will be discussed in the essay. Due to the current situation, it is necessary to correct such misunderstandings. According to the statistics issued by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, GDP growth rate of China has dropped from nearly 12 per cent three years ago to a more subdued 7.5 per cent in the second quarter. Despite a year and a half of recession, Euro zone’s GDP rose at an annualised rate of 1.1 per cent in the second quarter, this pickup still leaves GDP across the Euro area 0.7 per cent lower than a year ago (The Economist, 2013). This essay will argue that in order to resolve the current economic problems it is crucial to identify the underlying causes rather than accepting superficial reasons. It will also be argued that there are three key reasons for the crisis: monetary policy...
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