Housing melt down. Sub-prime insanity. Credit squeeze. Are we in a crisis?
Crises have been a feature of the financial landscape for hundreds of years. They often appear with little warning, as current condtions and the Asian crisis of 1997-1998 illustrate.
It's not always clear what causes crises, whether they can be avoided and how their impact can be reduced. . .
…Countries that had previously been the envy of the world experienced crises. Banks and other financial intermediaries were put under great strain and in many cases collapsed. Stock markets and currencies plunged. Their real economies were severely affected and their GDPs fell significantly. What were the causes of these dramatic events? How do they affect us today? . . .
