Free Essay

Financial Crisis Paper

In:

Submitted By USDLOL
Words 801
Pages 4
What caused the financial crisis of 2008 and who is responsible for it? My original intent for this paper was to argue that market failure, particularly in the housing sector, was the primary cause for the crash. Unfortunately my research has lead me in a different direction. According to the discussions we had in class that means I should be arguing from the perspective that the crisis was caused by government intervention then, right? I’m not so sure that’s the case either. Instead I’ll argue that the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the following “Great Recession” were the result of a perfect storm of both regulatory and market failure.
Senators Carl Levin and Tom Coburn lead a 2-year long Senate subcommittee investigation into the crash. In April 2011 they released a 635 page report on their findings where they concluded that there was indeed no singular cause of the crash. The bipartisan subcommittee implicates several primary causes.
Inflated credit ratings on mortgage related securities are cited as being “…the most immediate cause of the financial crisis…” The two primary rating firms, Standard & Poors and Moody’s had been assigning risk profiles to mortgage related securities similar to that of Treasury Bills – widely regarded as the most secure investment you can make since the government can just print money to pay you. In July of 2007 both firms did massive downgrades that exposed how risky these investments actually were. The downgrades resulted in a market panic that profoundly reduced the value of the securities and effectively collapsed the market for them. Perhaps the root cause of the problem is the inherent conflict of interests built into the rating system. Investment banks pay S & P and Moody’s very lucrative fees, up to $750,000 for a single security, for a rating. Giving a lower rating decreases the value of the security and annoys the investment banks. But the ratings firms are beholden to their shareholders too. It seems natural for any business to want to keep their clients happy. There’s the rub. Levin said that,
“Our investigation found a financial snake pit rife with greed, conflicts of interest, and wrongdoing.”

High risk lending geared toward short term profits combined with systemic regulatory failures also served as key ingredients in the recipe for financial catastrophe. The Levin-Coburn report uses Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu) as an example; appropriately so since it’s the largest bank failure in US history:
“…even as the bank's own top executives stated that the condition of the housing market ‘signifies a bubble’ with risks that ‘will come back to haunt us’ executives forged ahead despite repeated warnings from inside and outside the bank that the risks were excessive, its lending standards and risk management systems were deficient, and many of its loans were tainted by fraud or prone to early default.”

Meanwhile the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), which was responsible for regulating WaMu, acted more like an apologetic partner than a regulator. Despite recording close to 500 serious financial deficiencies against them, the OTS never took action to correct WaMu’s reckless behavior. According to the report the OTS actually inhibited the FDIC’s efforts to crack the whip against them. That sounds a bit odd until you realize that WaMu accounted for 15% of the OTS’s budget. Do not despair though, the OTS did finally recommend punitive measures against its biggest client- shortly AFTER the bank had failed. /sarcasm Is it desirable to nail the cause of the 2008 financial crisis down to a singular cause? It wasn’t necessarily a failure of the market system, nor was it entirely a failure of the regulators. We can’t simply blame “greedy house-flippers” or “ignorant Keynesian quasi-government Federal Reserve policy makers”. Rather it was a combination of all of these things and many others. There have been economic meltdowns in the past and there will continue to be in the future. Perhaps it’s just human nature?

“The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”
― Friedrich von Hayek

Sources
Carl Levin - United States Senator for Michigan: Newsroom - Press Releases. April 1, 2011. Accessed October 1st, 2014. http://www.levin.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/us-senate-investigations-subcommittee-releases-levin-coburn-report-on-the-financial-crisis#sthash.xfm79fQu.dpuf.

"Crash Course." The Economist. September 7, 2013. Accessed October 1st, 2014. http://www.economist.com/news/schoolsbrief/21584534-effects-financial-crisis-are-still-being-felt-five-years-article.

"Financial Crisis of 2007–08." Accessed October 1st, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_crisis_of_2007–08.

Levin, Carl, and Tom Coburn. "WALL STREET AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse." April 13, 2011. Accessed October 1, 2014. http://www.levin.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/supporting/2011/PSI_WallStreetCrisis_041311.pdf.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Basic Financial Crisis Paper

...On Crisis and Resolution It is my belief that the 2008 financial crisis was caused by a number of issues, most prominently subprime lending and borrowing in an over zealous pursuit of profits, a lack of preventative action, deceptive investment banking, and finally an inconvenient rise in interest rates. I am also confident that the crisis could have been averted through more stringent monitoring of the asset-backed security and consumer lending markets. Furthermore, a similar crisis can be prevented through new government regulatory measures. It can be argued that one of the initial causes of the crisis is rooted in the Federal Reserve’s decision to lower interest rates following the tech bubble burst in the early 2000s. There would have been a massive increase in the availability of capital, creating a rationale for banks to lend to subprime borrowers and reap the profits of charging higher than market interest rates. Consumers then fueled this lending through willingness to pay high interest rates in the anticipation of riding the rising real estate prices of the time. This would allow them to refinance a few years later at a lower interest rate. In hindsight, this is when strict monitoring would have been able to take the issue and “nip it the bud.” However, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Housing Administration either failed to notice these irrational, predatory lending trends or just botched and didn’t acknowledge them. Shortly after the surge in predatory...

Words: 953 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Financial Crisis Term Paper

...635: Dr. Wong 5/4/15 The Great Recession: The Financial Crisis of 2008 Table of Contents: I. Introduction......................................3 II. Cause & Effect of the Housing Bubble..............3 III. Financial Industry................................5 IV. Global Contagion..................................6 a. European Sovereign Debt Crisis of 2007-2008.....7 V. LIBOR.............................................8 b. LIBOR & the Crisis in Lending...................8 VI. Unemployment......................................9 VII. United States Stock Market.......................10 VIII. Laws & Resolutions...............................10 c. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform & Consumer.......11 Protection Act Timeline d. Dodd-Frank Wall Street & Reform Consumer.......11 Protection Act e. European Laws & Resolutions....................11 IX. Conclusion.......................................12 Introduction The financial crisis of 2007-2008 is considered to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression in 1929. Not only were some of the largest firms in the world threatened but also, the normal lives of everyday people faced great challenges as the entire financial market and banking industry was damaged. The prevention of the folding of these firms was backed with bailouts from national governments and banks. The crisis was the cause of business declines, foreclosures on...

Words: 4323 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Financial Crisis Question Paper

...BMKTG_8_Y3 BMGT_7_Y3 External Examiner(s): Internal Examiner(s): Prof Jimmy Hill Ms. Colette M. Murphy Instructions: Section A: Question 1 mandatory Section B: Do either question 2 or question 3 Duration: 2 hours Sitting: Autumn 2013/2014 Requirements for this examination: Note to Candidates: Please check the Programme Title and the Module Title to ensure that you have received the correct examination paper. If in doubt please contact an Invigilator. Page 1 of 4 Section A Question 1 Mandatory The Global Financial Crisis and Protectionism Two facts characterized international trade between 1986 and 2007. First, the volume of world trade grew every year, creating an increasingly interdependent global economy, and second, barriers to international trade were progressively reduced. Between 1990 and 2007 international trade grew by 6 percent annually compounded, while import tariffs on goods fell from an average of 26 percent in 1986 to 8.8 percent in 2007. In the wake of the global financial crisis that started in the United States in 2008 and quickly spread around the world, this changed. As global demand slumped and financing for international trade dried up in the wake of tight credit conditions, so did the volume of international trade. The volume of world trade fell by 2 percent in 2008, the first decline since 1982, and then slumped a further 12 percent in 2009. This contraction was alarming because past sharp declines in...

Words: 921 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Mr, Student

...i ACFI 2005 : Finance - Tutorial Solutions Tute 1: 07/09/12 Chapter 1 A modern financial system: an overview 2. (a) Discuss the role of money in a financial system. • Money is a financial asset that facilitates financial and economic transactions. • Money is a medium of exchange—swapped for goods and services. • Money is a store of value—wealth is held or measured in money terms. • Money is a standard of deferred payment—used to record indebtedness. • Money is a unit of account—transactions are priced in money terms. • Currency is generally divisible, portable and durable. (b) Does money have to be currency? If not, what are some alternatives? • Money is anything that is universally acceptable as a medium of exchange. • Further, money generally has the characteristics of being divisible and a store of value. • Examples—currency, EFTPOS and digital money. 4. The major financial institutions within the international markets fall into five classifications. Identify and briefly explain each of these classifications. Give an example of different types of institutions that operate within a classification were appropriate. • Depository financial institutions—they attract savings from depositors and investors and provide loans to borrowers. Examples: commercial banks, building societies and credit unions. • Contractual savings institutions—there liabilities (sources of funds) are contracts that generate periodic cash flows, such...

Words: 1149 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

No Need to Upload a Paper

...| Research Paper Prospectus | Economics Capstone | 02/12/2012 | Since the U.S. banking crisis of 2007, more than 280 banks in the United States have failed and presently continue to do so. With the closures of these banks, jobs were lost; and the economy has suffered greatly. The banking crisis of 2007 has been considered the largest since the Great Depression. Many researchers, policymakers, economists, and other individuals blame the subprime mortgage market and its collapse for triggering the U.S crisis; many also wonder how such a relatively small market as subprime could cause so much trouble around in the U.S, especially financial institutions that did not get involved with subprime lending or with investment in subprime securities. This paper analyzes financial and economic circumstances associated with the United States financial turmoil that has led to the banking crisis. Section 1 analyzes the collapse of the subprime mortgage market in the United States and outlines factors associated with it. Section 2 outlines the economic factors that led to the banking crisis in 2007. Section 3 summarizes suggestions of research about how to remedy the current crisis and possibly avoid crises in the future. Section 4 will discuss the conclusion of the research. The first signs of the subprime mortgage market collapse in the United States were very high and unusual even for subprime market delinquency and foreclosure rates for mortgages originated in 2006 and 2007. Reinhart...

Words: 2989 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Management Accounting

...Table of content I. Introduction to credit crisis and Bank CEO Incentives…………………….2 II. Other factors of credit crisis………………………………………………3-4 a) Housing bubble b) Interest rate and inflation c) Unemployment III. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..5 IV. References……………………………………………………………………6 In my following essay, I will try to explain clearly about credit crisis and Incеntivеs оf Bаnk Chiеf Exеcutive officеrs are nоt mаjоr fаctоr in crеdit slump. At first, lets to еxplаin what are сredit сrisis and its rоle in еcоnоmy. Making a hard to obtain financing to debtors by shortening of funds in the credit market is called as credit crisis. It is because of limited assets obtainable for lending and the price for assets for borrowing are increases so fast. Creditors don’t want or can not to lend an asset again, because they meet to losses on previous loans. This is caused by non-payment by debtors and defaults on loans, which decreases their value. In this situation, banks are trying to recover expenses and to return all money that they lost by selling debt. Then, if prices fall, the bank suffers losses. They cannot borrow a huge amount of funds if capital reduces. Also, if the banks take on more risk in the market, they will increase interest rates on loans to reward for this risk. It will bring to increasing the price of borrowing, but also will bring to decreasing the borrowers. In general, reducing the liquidity of capital and reducing...

Words: 1659 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Compare and Contrast 1929 – 39 Great Depression and Current Global Economic Crisis with Respect to Causes and Responses and Actions of Monetary Authorities to This Crisis

...[pic] [pic] Assignment Course code: ECON 403 Course title: Monetary Theory and Policy Lecturer: Asst. Prof. Dr. Hasan Gungor Student: Murad Alakbarov Student number: 065028 Task for Assignment II: Compare and contrast 1929 – 39 Great Depression and current global economic crisis with respect to causes and responses and actions of monetary authorities to this crisis. Introduction “…In the old days, we used to suffer nearly periodic economic crises, the sudden onset of which was called a "panic", and the lingering trough period after the panic was called "depression". The most famous depression in modern times, of course, was the one that began in a typical financial panic in 1929 and lasted until the advent of World War II. After the disaster of 1929, economists and politicians resolved that this must never happen again. The easiest way of succeeding at this resolve was, simply to define "depressions" out of existence. From that point on, America was to suffer no further depressions. For when the next sharp depression came along, in 1937-38, the economists simply refused to use the dread name, and came up with a new, much softer-sounding word: "recession". From that point on, we have been through quite a few recessions, but not a single depression. But pretty soon the word "recession" also became too harsh for the delicate sensibilities of the American public. It now seems that we had our last recession in 1957-58. For since...

Words: 2010 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Lesson from Asian Crisis

...The financial crisis which began in July 1997 in the East Asian countries, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea, has had devastating effects on their economies. Growth rates in these countries which were in excess of five percent before 1997, turned sharply negative in 1998 and, at the time of this writing it is not yet clear when these economies will turn the corner and resume positive rates of growth. This paper examines why these countries, which were part of what has been termed "the Asian miracle" and were able to eradicate so much poverty, are now undergoing severe economic contractions, with such harmful effects on their populations. A breakdown of information in financial markets is the key factor that has driven this crisis. After laying out an asymmetric information view of the Asian financial crisis, this paper goes on to use this framework to explore lessons from this crisis. 1. An Asymmetric Information View of the Asian Crisis The financial system plays a critical role in the economy because, when it operates properly, it channels funds from those who have saved surplus funds to those who need these funds to engage in productive investment opportunities. The major barrier to the financial system performing this job properly is asymmetric information, the fact that one party to a financial contract does not have the same information as the other party, which results in moral hazard and adverse selection problems. An asymmetric information view of financial...

Words: 7371 - Pages: 30

Premium Essay

Can Innovation Solve the Economic Crisis?

...the economic crisis? Loh Hu 2/18/2013 In this paper, I examine how the theory of technological innovation waves could contribute to solving the ongoing economic crisis. Primarily, my stance remains that innovation in itself is insufficient to solve the economic crisis unless there exists a matching techno-economic paradigm where national, supranational and global efforts are coordinated for a full deployment of technological revolution. Can innovation solve the economic crisis? Background There has been a wide international debate on the causes and possible solutions to the economic crisis that emerged in 2007 – 2008 (Ranga and Etzkowitz 2012). The economic crisis sweeps across the global financial system rapidly and furiously as markets are globally integrated (Gore 2010). Hence, the responses to the global economic crisis are not only enclosed within a nation’s or a coalition government’s approach. Rather, a global coordinated response is warranted as well. Economic stimulus packages addressing short-term and long-term problems have been adopted in most countries as well as the European Commission (Ranga and Etzkowitz 2012). Internationally, the United States of America and European Union have recently been discussing on a free-trade agreement to remove trading barriers between the two important economic powers and boost the economies (BBC News Business 2013). Globally, the G-20 group of major economies have considered proposals on international financial regulation...

Words: 2477 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Employment Sector

...Employment Sector Employment Working Paper No. 74 2011 Global economic crisis, gender and employment: The impact and policy response Naoko Otobe Employment Sector Copyright © International Labour Organization First published 2011 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to ILO Publications (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland, or by email: pubdroit@ilo.org. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered with reproduction rights organizations may make copies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. Visit www.ifrro.org to find the reproduction rights organization in your country. Otobe, Naoko Global economic crisis, gender and employment : the impact and policy response / Naoko Otobe ; International Labour Office, Employment Sector. - Geneva: ILO, 2011 1 v. (Employment working paper) ISBN: 9789221241690; 9789221241706 (web pdf) ISSN 1999-2939 (print); ISSN 1999-2947 (web pdf) International Labour Office; Employment Sector women workers / men workers / employment / unemployment / gender equality / employment policy / social policy / economic recession / developed...

Words: 23195 - Pages: 93

Premium Essay

Liquidity Crisis Case Study

...1. Introduction The Global financial and economic crisis in 2007 and a liquidity crisis of the world's leading banks force us to reconsider the debt relations. Credit boom accompanied by rising debt payments, could not continue persistently. Debt servicing was possible only with high incomes or assets value of the debtor, and as soon as the growth of income or assets stopped, the debtors have faced problems in servicing their debts: in spite of the decline in income and assets value of debt borrowers’ debt during the crisis did not reduce. As a result, the debtors faced decoupling of debts from assets. According to Minsky decoupling between firms’ debt and assets, or the debt crisis caused by the cyclical nature of economic development: at...

Words: 2332 - Pages: 10

Premium Essay

The 2008 Financial Crisis

...Abstract This paper will examine the 2008 financial crisis. In this paper we will answerer what caused the financial crisis of 2008, and what has happened since then. It will focus on risky behaviour and increased asymmetric information almost always lead to more risky behaviour and eventually a cycle thus causing a contraction in an economy. It would highlight the main causes and effects. Finally there would be an analysis and conclusion with recommendations. Introduction The year is 2008, the greatest ever economic issue is upon us, could even be described as a disaster. The financial crisis is one that changed landscapes literally and figuratively and forced the implementation of laws to avoid such a disaster happening again. With its...

Words: 724 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Interdependence of World Financial Markets and Foreign Exchange Fluctuations

...Third Semester May Session 2013/2014 Prof Dr. K. Kuperan Viswanathan SHORT PAPER #1 INTERDEPENDENCE OF WORLD FINANCIAL MARKETS AND FOREIGN EXCHANGE FLUCTUATIONS Submitted by: ZAHARIN BIN ALI MATRIC No. 95906 June 14, 2014 Short Paper #1 Page |2 1. INTRODUCTION With the increase in advancements in transportation and communications made possible by technology, the world has seen exponential growths in economic ties among all nations. In the last few decades, globalization has resulted in a rapid surge in the interchanging of goods and services reaching across further and faster beyond national borders, whilst increasing the interconnectedness of different markets and cultures. These economic ties come in the forms of international trade, foreign direct investment and monetary integration, made possible with the complementary increase in the interdependence of international financial markets. With further liberalization and deregulation, financial market interdependence grew in momentum alongside the worldwide capital mobilization. This growing interconnectedness of all the world financial markets and the degree of their interdependence have themselves created a subject of substantial interest among economists. The recent global financial crisis has only elevated this interest further, as the impact of U.S. subprime crises on the world economies have provided evidence of global financial markets interdependence. Many international stock markets, for example, experienced...

Words: 4027 - Pages: 17

Free Essay

Co Movement of Global Indices

...| EBS Business SchoolEBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht | Paper SubmissionIn requirements of the courseMultivariate Statistical Methods | Co movement of Global Stock Market Indices | | | | Name: Abhisek Rathi Matriculation Number: 22030512 Submitted To: Prof. Dr. Frank Brand Submission Date: December 17, 2012 Contents Introduction 3 Stock Market Co-Movement 4 Causes 4 Data Analysis 6 Observations 9 Implications 10 References 12 Introduction The global financial crisis of 2008 was the biggest economic crisis faced by the world since the great depression of 1929. The crisis started to brew in the US in 2007 and many believed it would be largely limited to the shores of the US. However, the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008 was sufficient to trigger a worldwide stock market collapse, the effects of which are felt to this day. The worldwide collapse of stock market can be understood by considering the world as a single big marketplace. Analysing the co-movement of various financial markets has gained importance in the recent past both for policy makers, in terms of policy co-ordination, and portfolio managers, for portfolio diversification. For policy makers, high co-movement would facilitate transition in local currency areas resulting in potential efficiency gains from stock market merger activities. This, in turn, will result in greater financial stability across the regions. However, for portfolio managers, high correlation between...

Words: 2889 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

American History

...happens while unemployment and bankruptcies rates go up (Andrews, 2009). Recessions crops up when there is a general drop in expenditure. It follows the rising of an economic bubble or an unpredictable supply shock. Governments respond to recessions through implementing expansionary macroeconomic strategies. They tend to raise the government’s expenditure, increase money supply and lessen the amount of tax paid by the citizens (Andrews, 2009). In 2007, a global financial predicament rapidly metamorphosed from the bursting of the property bubble in the United States to the most horrible recession ever witnessed on the planet. This paper will research on the causes of the 2008-2009 economic predicament and the policies executed by various key people liable for saving the U.S. economy. It will also explain the task, constitutional authority, and the policy view of some current holders of key positions that set policies for saving the U.S. economy. In 2007, a worldwide economic predicament spread its gloom on the financial outcomes of several nations (Simon, 2001). It ended with what was often termed as the worst recession (Simon, 2001). Its source that originated from the sub-prime segment of the United State real estate field as an isolated turmoil matured into a complete recession in 2007. The old well-known fact that the whole world sneezes when the United States seizes flu seemed to be justified (Baker, 2007). This is because vital economies like Japan and nations in the European...

Words: 2214 - Pages: 9