...the 2l century, which traced its origins to the sub-prime mortgage disaster that began to unravel in 2007. The shocks of global crisis are devastating: homeowners filed for bankruptcies and faced foreclosures in record high numbers, leading Wall Street firms such as Bear Sterns and Merrill Lynch crumbled under their massive exposure to sub-prime mortgage holdings that turned into toxic had assets and over $50 trillion in wealth had been wiped out within the last two years. No financial crisis since the Great Depression prompted many policy reactions as governments scrambled to map out rescue plans to restore stability and revive economic growth. The after effects of the sub-prime mortgage meltdown have left policymakers both in the United States and around the world struggling to restore growth and confidence in their economies. What are the causes behind the U.S. sub-prime mortgage crisis? Is one cause more responsible than another? Why of why not? The principal cause of the economic slowdown was the collapse of the global credit boom and the ensuing financial crisis, which has affected asset values, credit conditions, and consumer and business confidence around the world. The immediate trigger of the crisis was the end of housing booms in the United States and other countries and the associated problems in mortgage markets, notably the collapse of the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market. Conditions in housing and mortgage markets have proved a serious pull on the broader economy...
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.... The Great Depression was a period of unprecedented decline in economic activity. It is generally agreed to have occurred between 1929 and 1939. Although parts of the economy had begun to recover by 1936, high unemployment persisted until the Second World War. Background To Great Depression: * The 1920s witnessed an economic boom in the US (typified by Ford Motor cars, which made a car within the grasp of ordinary workers for the first time). Industrial output expanded very rapidly. * Sales were often promoted through buying on credit. However, by early 1929, the steam had gone out of the economy and output was beginning to fall. * The stock market had boomed to record levels. Price to earning ratios were above historical averages. * The US Agricultural sector had been in recession for many more years * The UK economy had been experiencing deflation and high unemployment for much of the 1920s. This was mainly due to the cost of the first world war and attempting to rejoin the Gold standard at a pre world war 1 rate. This meant Sterling was overvalued causing lower exports and slower growth. The US tried to help the UK stay in the gold standard. That meant inflating the US economy, which contributed to the credit boom of the 1920s. Causes of Great Depression Stock Market Crash of October 1929 During September and October a few firms posted disappointing results causing share prices to fall. On October 28th (Black Monday), the decline in prices turned...
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...Running head: PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT 1 Progressive Era Through the Great Depression Zarick L. Robinson Contemporary U.S. History – II Professor Patrick Peacock Strayer University August 1, 2013 PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION 2 The progressive era in America describes a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century. In the decades following the Civil War, rapid industrialization transformed the United States. A national rail system was completed; agriculture was mechanized; the factory system spread; and cities grew rapidly in size and number. The progressive movement arose as a response to the vast changes brought about by industrialization. Two major turning points during this period was reform at the state level and of course the national level. At the state level, reformers turned to state politics, where progressivism reached its fullest expression. A model of progressive reform was Robert La Follette’s term as governor of Wisconsin. He won from the legislature an anti-lobbying law directed at large corporations, a state banking control measure, and a direct primary law. Taxes on corporations were raised, a railroad commission was created to set rates, and a conservative commission was set-up. In state after state, progressives advocated a wide range of political, economic, and social reforms. They...
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...Running head: PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT 1 Progressive Era Through the Great Depression Zarick L. Robinson Contemporary U.S. History – II Professor Patrick Peacock Strayer University August 1, 2013 PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION 2 The progressive era in America describes a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century. In the decades following the Civil War, rapid industrialization transformed the United States. A national rail system was completed; agriculture was mechanized; the factory system spread; and cities grew rapidly in size and number. The progressive movement arose as a response to the vast changes brought about by industrialization. Two major turning points during this period was reform at the state level and of course the national level. At the state level, reformers turned to state politics, where progressivism reached its fullest expression. A model of progressive reform was Robert La Follette’s term as governor of Wisconsin. He won from the legislature an anti-lobbying law directed at large corporations, a state banking control measure, and a direct primary law. Taxes on corporations were raised, a railroad commission was created to set rates, and a conservative commission was set-up. In state after state, progressives advocated a wide range of political, economic, and social reforms. They...
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...Running head: PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT 1 Progressive Era Through the Great Depression Zarick L. Robinson Contemporary U.S. History – II Professor Patrick Peacock Strayer University August 1, 2013 PROGRESSIVE ERA THROUGH THE GREAT DEPRESSION 2 The progressive era in America describes a broadly based reform movement that reached its height early in the 20th century. In the decades following the Civil War, rapid industrialization transformed the United States. A national rail system was completed; agriculture was mechanized; the factory system spread; and cities grew rapidly in size and number. The progressive movement arose as a response to the vast changes brought about by industrialization. Two major turning points during this period was reform at the state level and of course the national level. At the state level, reformers turned to state politics, where progressivism reached its fullest expression. A model of progressive reform was Robert La Follette’s term as governor of Wisconsin. He won from the legislature an anti-lobbying law directed at large corporations, a state banking control measure, and a direct primary law. Taxes on corporations were raised, a railroad commission was created to set rates, and a conservative commission was set-up. In state after state, progressives advocated a wide range of political, economic, and social reforms. They...
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...Current financial crisis Economic growth involves metamorphosis of the financial system. Forms of banks and bank money change. These changes, if not addressed, leave the banking system vulnerable to crisis. There is no greater challenge in economics than to understand and prevent financial crises. The financial crisis of 2007-2008 provides the opportunity to reassess our understanding of crises. All financial crises are at root bank runs, because bank debt—of all forms—is vulnerable to sudden exit by bank debt holders. The current crisis raises issues for crisis theory. And, empirically, studying crises is challenging because of small samples and incomplete data. *Written as a contribution for Trade, Globalization and Development: Essays in Honor of Kalyan Sanyal, edited by Sugata Marjit and Rajat Acharya (Springer Verlag; forthcoming). Some of this essay draws from material in my book Misunderstanding Financial Crises (Oxford University Press; forthcoming November 2012). I worked at AIG Financial Products as a consultant from 1996-2008. I thank Doug Diamond, Bengt Holmström, Arvind Krishnamurthy, and Guillermo Ordoňez for comments.1 1. Introduction Economic development does not result in the elimination of financial crises. The recent financial crisis of 2007-2009 in the United States and Europe shows that market economies, however much they grow and change, are still susceptible to collapse or near-collapse from financial crisis. This is a staggering thought...
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...THE GREAT RECESSION Since publication of Robert L. Hetzel’s he Monetary Policy of the Federal Reserve (Cambridge University Press, 2008), the intellectual consensus that had characterized macroeconomics has disappeared. hat consensus emphasized eicient markets, rational expectations, and the eicacy of the price system in assuring macroeconomic stability. he 2008–2009 recession not only destroyed the professional consensus about the kinds of models required to understand cyclical luctuations but also revived the credit-cycle or asset-bubble explanations of recession that dominated thinking in the nineteenth century and irst half of the twentieth century. hese “market-disorder” views emphasize excessive risk taking in inancial markets and the need for government regulation. he present book argues for the alternative “monetary-disorder” view of recessions. A review of cyclical instability over the last two centuries places the 2008–2009 recession in the monetary-disorder tradition, which focuses on the monetary instability created by central banks rather than on a boom-bust cycle in inancial markets. Robert L. Hetzel is Senior Economist and Research Advisor in the Research Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, where he participates in debates over monetary policy and prepares the bank’s president for meetings of the Federal Open Market Committee. Dr. Hetzel’s research on monetary policy and the history of central banking has appeared in publications...
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...robin blackburn THE SUBPRIME CRISIS I n the summer of 2007 many leading banks in the us and Europe were hit by a collapse in the value of mortgage-backed securities which they had themselves been responsible for packaging.* To the surprise of many, the poisonous securities turned out to constitute a major portion of their ultimate asset base. The defaults fostered a credit crunch as all financial institutions hoarded cash and required ever widening premiums before lending to one another. The Wall Street investment banks and brokerages haemorrhaged $175 billion of capital in the period July 2007 to March 2008, and Bear Stearns, the fifth largest, was ‘rescued’ in March, at a fire-sale price, by JP Morgan Chase with the help of $29 billion of guarantees from the Federal Reserve. Many of the rest only survived by selling huge chunks of preferred stock, with guaranteed premium rates of return, to a string of ‘sovereign funds’, owned by the governments of Abu Dhabi, Singapore, South Korea and China, among others. By the end of January 2008, $75 billion of new capital had been injected into the banks, but it was not enough. In the uk the sharply rising cost of liquidity destroyed the business model of a large mortgage house, leading to the first bank run in the uk for 150 years and obliging the British Chancellor first to extend nearly £60 billion in loans and guarantees to its depositors and then to take the concern, Northern Rock, into public ownership. In late January Société...
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...could write all the rules you want, but there has to be a philosophy of ethical behaviour that comes from human beings operating in a professional way” – William H. Donaldson, CFA “The global crisis was caused by “the over-50s not knowing what the under-30’s were doing” – Johann Rupert, Remgro Chairman “The first casualty of a downturn is truth” - Financial Times Columnist 30 Sept 2008 Introduction- The banking crisis was triggered by largely unregulated trading of complex financial instruments, including mortgaged-backed securities, which dragged down some of the USA’s largest banks and brokerages as the housing bubble of the mid-2000s collapsed and foreclosures soared. In addition, generous pay and bonuses on Wall Street were tied to lucrative but risky short-range trading strategies rather than long- term performance. Bankers, brokers and traders were rewarded handsomely for doing risky deals without...
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...Subprime Mortgage Crisis 1. What is Subprime Mortgage? A type of mortgage that is normally made out to borrowers with lower credit ratings. As a result of the borrower's lowered credit rating, a conventional mortgage is not offered because the lender views the borrower as having a larger-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan. Lending institutions often charge interest on subprime mortgages at a rate that is higher than a conventional mortgage in order to compensate themselves for carrying more risk. There are several different kinds of subprime mortgage structures available. The most common is the adjustable rate mortgage (ARM), which initially charges a fixed interest rate, and then converts to a floating rate based on an index such as LIBOR, plus a margin. The better known types of ARMs include3/27 and2/28 ARMs. ARMs are somewhat misleading to subprime borrowers in that the borrowers initially pay a lower interest rate. When their mortgages reset to the higher, variable rate, mortgage payments increase significantly. This is one of the factors that lead to the sharp increase in the number of subprime mortgage foreclosures in August of 2006, and the subprime mortgage meltdown that ensued. Many lenders were more liberal in granting these loans from 2004 to 2006 as a result of lower interest rates and high capital liquidity. Lenders sought additional profits through these higher risk loans, and they charged interest rates above prime in order to compensate...
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...Enablers of Exuberance Jennifer S. Taub Sept. 4, 2009 DISCUSSION DRAFT Enablers of Exuberance: Legal Acts and Omissions that Facilitated the Global Financial Crisis Jennifer S. Taub1 I. Introduction This paper explores certain legal acts and omissions that facilitated the over-leveraging and near collapse of the global financial system. These ―Legal Enablers‖ fostered the boom that enriched a class of financial intermediaries who followed a storied tradition of gambling away ―other people‘s money.‖2 These mechanisms also made the pain of the bust disproportionately felt by the middle class and poor while shielding the middlemen who created the problems. These legal Enablers permitted the growth of a shadow banking system, without investment limits, transparency or government oversight. In the shadows grew a variety of highly leveraged private investment pools, undercapitalized conduits of securitized loans and speculation in complex credit derivatives. The rationale for allowing this unregulated, parallel system was that it helped to create innovation and provide liquidity. The conventional wisdom was that any risks associated with a hands-off approach could be managed by the ―invisible hand‖3 of the market. In other words, instead of public police, it relied upon private gatekeepers. A legal framework including legislation, rules and court decisions supported this system. This legal structure depended upon corporate managers, counterparties, ―sophisticated investors‖ and the...
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...Global Economic Crisis The global financial crisis (GFC) or global economic crisis is commonly believed to have begun in July 2007 with the credit crunch, when a loss of confidence by US investors in the value of sub-prime mortgages caused a liquidity crisis. This, in turn, resulted in the US Federal Bank injecting a large amount of capital into financial markets. By September 2008, the crisis had worsened as stock markets around the globe crashed and became highly volatile. Consumer confidence hit rock bottom as everyone tightened their belts in fear of what could lie ahead. The current financial crisis is the worst the world has seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. For younger generations, accustomed to mild recessions of the new phase of globalization, the misery of the Great Depression is hitherto nothing more than a distant legend. However, the collapse of two Bear Stearns Hedge funds in summer of 2007 exposed what came to be known as the subprime mortgage crisis, reintroducing the world to an era of bank failures, a credit crunch, private defaults and massive layoffs. In the new, globalized world of closely interdependent economies, the crisis affected almost every part of the world, receiving extensive coverage in the international media. “In an Interconnected World, American Homeowner Woes Can Be Felt from Beijing to Rio de Janeiro,” observed the International Herald Tribune at the onset of the crisis. “Chinese Steelmakers Shiver, Indian Miners Catch Flu,” noted...
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...Introduction Following the recent global economic downturn, it is clear that the response of central banks and governments is likely to shape the future of our financial markets for many years to come. Their responses in regulating fields such as credit rating agencies, derivative markets and hedge funds will be crucial in relation to economic recovery. Over the course of our essay, we will also discuss areas such as international trade, geo-political issues and the role of monetary authorities in the future as the global economy aims to bounce back from the worst downturn since 1929. We will begin our assessment by first taking a look at the future regulation of financial markets. Regulation of Financial Markets Credit Rating Agencies Credit Rating Agencies (CRA) are responsible for assigning a credit rating to financial instruments such as bonds, companies, governments, etc. By current regulation any financial instrument must receive a credit rating from at least two CRAs. The problem with this is that there are only three companies which control roughly 85% of the market. These companies are Standard & Poors, Moodys and Fitch. The need for regulation in this market is now coming under increasing pressure. These companies first came under scrutiny after the collapse of Enron because the company still had a top AAA rating one week prior to filing for bankruptcy but subsequently the credit rating agencies were overshadowed by the failures of auditors and thus were...
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...pResented by the society of ActuARies, the cAsuAlty ActuARiAl society And the cAnAdiAn institute of ActuARies Risk Management: The Current Financial Crisis, Lessons Learned and Future Implications Copyright 2008 by the Society of Actuaries. R I s k M a n a g e M e n T: the current financial crisis, lessons learned and future implications introduction the current financial crisis presents a case study of a “financial tsunami” (as former federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan recently called it) on what can go wrong. its ramifications are far-reaching and the lessons learned will be embedded in risk management practices for years to come. As one of the premier enterprise risk professions in practice today, the actuarial profession is sharing its substantial insight into what went wrong and the implications for the future. on behalf of the society of Actuaries, the casualty Actuarial society and the canadian institute of Actuaries, we are pleased to provide a series of essays on Risk Management: The Current Financial Crisis, Lessons Learned and Future Implications. this e-book is the result of a call for essays on the subject coordinated by the following groups: • • • • The Joint Risk Management Section of the Society of Actuaries, Casualty Actuarial Society and Canadian institute of Actuaries The Investment Section of the Society of Actuaries International Network of Actuarial Risk Managers Enterprise Risk Management Institute International ...
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...of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science Scott G. Nelson, Chair Karen M. Hult Deborah J. Milly September 7, 2011 Blacksburg, Virginia Keywords: EUROPEAN UNION, EUROZONE, GREECE FINANCIAL CRISIS, IRELAND BANKING CRISIS, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK Copyright 2011 Sara F. Taylor Financial Crisis in the European Union: The Cases of Greece and Ireland Sara Frances Taylor ABSTRACT The 2008 eurozone financial crisis has only worsened as of summer 2011 raising questions about the economic future of the eurozone and sending shock waves through economies around the world. Greece was the first state to receive a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, surprisingly followed only six months later by Ireland. The goal of this thesis is to analyze the challenges posed to smaller, weaker economies within the eurozone, specifically Greece and Ireland, since the recent eurozone financial crisis. This study is based on the experiences of both Greece and Ireland as very different members of the single currency. How and why did these states meet the criteria for euro convergence? To what extent was there support for the euro in both countries in the past? To what extent is there support today after the near collapse of both economies and the rescue packages brought about by the EU? As a result of the recent financial crisis, Greece...
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