IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/130.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Anatomy of Financial Crises

Author

Listed:
  • Eichengreen, Barry
  • Portes, Richard

Abstract

A financial crisis is a disturbance to financial markets, associated typically with falling asset prices and insolvency among debtors and intermediaries, which spreads through the financial system, disrupting the market's capacity to allocate capital. In this paper we analyze the generation and propagation of financial crises in an international setting. We provide a perspective on the danger of a serious disruption to the global financial system by comparing the last full-fledged financial crisis - that of the 1930s - with conditions prevailing today. Our definition of a financial crisis implies a distinction between generalized financial crises on the one hand and isolated bank failures, debt defaults and foreign-exchange market disturbances on the other. We represent this distinction in three sets of linkages: between debt defaults and bank failures; between exchange-market disturbances and debt defaults; and between exchange-market disturbances and bank failures. In both the 1930s and 1980s, the institutional environment was drastically altered by rapid change in foreign exchange markets, in international capital markets, and in the structure of domestic banking systems. Our comparative analysis underscores the critical role played by institutional arrangements in financial markets as a determinant of the system's vulnerability to destabilizing shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Eichengreen, Barry & Portes, Richard, 1986. "The Anatomy of Financial Crises," CEPR Discussion Papers 130, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:130
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=130
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Buiter,Willem H. & Marston,Richard C., 1986. "International Economic Policy Coordination," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521337809, September.
    2. Portes, Richard, 1986. "Finance, Trade and Development: Issues in Transatlantic Cooperation," CEPR Discussion Papers 100, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Willem H. Buiter & Richard C. Marston, 1985. "Introduction to "International Economic Policy Coordination"," NBER Chapters, in: International Economic Policy Coordination, pages 1-7, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Andrew S. Carron, 1982. "Financial Crises: Recent Experience in U.S. and International Markets," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 13(2), pages 395-422.
    5. Epstein, Gerald & Ferguson, Thomas, 1984. "Monetary Policy, Loan Liquidation, and Industrial Conflict: The Federal Reserve and the Open Market Operations of 1932," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(4), pages 957-983, December.
    6. Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1985. "External Debt and Macroeconomic Performance in Latin America and East Asia," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 16(2), pages 523-573.
    7. Barry Eichengreen, 1985. "International Policy Coordination in Historical Perspective: A View from the Interwar Years," NBER Chapters, in: International Economic Policy Coordination, pages 139-183, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Rogoff, Kenneth, 1985. "Can exchange rate predictability be achieved without monetary convergence? : Evidence from the EMS," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1-2), pages 93-115.
    9. Bernanke, Ben S, 1983. "Nonmonetary Effects of the Financial Crisis in Propagation of the Great Depression," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(3), pages 257-276, June.
    10. Eichengreen, Barry & Portes, Richard, 1986. "Debt and default in the 1930s : Causes and consequences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 599-640, June.
    11. Jeffrey Sachs, 1982. "LDC Debt in the 1980s: Risk and Reforms," NBER Working Papers 0861, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Kenen, Peter B & Rodrik, Dani, 1986. "Measuring and Analyzing the Effects of Short-term Volatility in Real Exchange Rates," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 68(2), pages 311-315, May.
    13. Eichengreen, Barry & Wyplosz, Charles, 1986. "The Economic Consequences of the Franc Poincare," CEPR Discussion Papers 136, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Balogh, Thomas & Graham, Andrew, 1979. "The Transfer Problem Revisited: Analogies between the Reparations Payments of the 1920s and the Problems of the OPEC Surpluses," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 41(3), pages 183-191, August.
    15. Harold James, 1984. "The Causes of the German Banking Crisis of 1931," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 37(1), pages 68-87, February.
    16. Guttentag, Jack & Herring, Richard, 1984. "Credit Rationing and Financial Disorder," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(5), pages 1359-1382, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bordo, Michael D., 1986. "Explorations in monetary history: A survey of the literature," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 339-415, October.
    2. Barry Eichengreen, 1988. "Did International Economic Forces Cause The Great Depression?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 6(2), pages 90-114, April.
    3. Bindseil, Ulrich & Winkler, Adalbert, 2012. "Dual liquidity crises under alternative monetary frameworks: a financial accounts perspective," Working Paper Series 1478, European Central Bank.
    4. WARWICK J. McKIBBIN, 1988. "The Economics of International Policy Coordination," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 64(4), pages 241-253, December.
    5. Patrick Artus, 1992. "Passage à l'union économique et monétaire en Europe : effets sur la croissance et les politiques budgétaires," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 106(5), pages 123-137.
    6. Fratianni, Michele & Giri, Federico, 2017. "The tale of two great crises," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 5-31.
    7. Rudiger Dornbusch & Jeffrey Frankel, 1988. "The Flexible Exchange Rate System: Experience and Alternatives," International Economic Association Series, in: Silvio Borner (ed.), International Finance and Trade in a Polycentric World, chapter 7, pages 151-208, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Ebrahimi Kahou, Mahdi & Lehar, Alfred, 2017. "Macroprudential policy: A review," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 92-105.
    9. Willem H. Buiter, 1988. "Macroeconomic Policy Design in an Interdependent World Economy: An Analysis of Three Contingencies," NBER Chapters, in: International Aspects of Fiscal Policies, pages 121-172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. van der Ploeg, F, 1990. "Capital Accumulation, Inflation and Long-run Conflict in International Objectives," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 501-525, July.
    11. Gabriel Jiménez & Steven Ongena & José-Luis Peydró & Jesús Saurina, 2017. "Macroprudential Policy, Countercyclical Bank Capital Buffers, and Credit Supply: Evidence from the Spanish Dynamic Provisioning Experiments," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(6), pages 2126-2177.
    12. M. Isabel García Gracia, 1995. "El SME: un modelo de comportamiento asimétrico," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 3, pages 41-68, Junio.
    13. Tatom, John A., 2014. "U.S. monetary policy in disarray," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 47-58.
    14. Yeh, Kuo-chun, 2012. "Renminbi in the future international monetary system," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 106-114.
    15. Barry Eichengreen, 1989. "The US Capital Market and Foreign Lending, 1920–1955," NBER Chapters, in: Developing Country Debt and the World Economy, pages 237-248, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Weber, A.A., 1988. "The credibility of monetary policies, policymakers' reputation and the EMS-hypothesis : Empirical evidence from 13 countries," Discussion Paper 1988-3, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    17. Rey, Hélène, 2015. "Dilemma not Trilemma: The Global Financial Cycle and Monetary Policy Independence," CEPR Discussion Papers 10591, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Miroslav Titze, 2014. "Menová politika Federálneho rezervného systému v rokoch 1929-1933 [The Federal Reserve Monetary Policy 1929-1933]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(5), pages 701-719.
    19. Var Der Ploeg, F., 1989. "Monetary Interdependence Under Alternative Exchange-Rate Regime," Papers 8920, Tilburg - Center for Economic Research.
    20. Weber, A.A., 1988. "The credibility of monetary policies, policymakers' reputation and the EMS-hypothesis : Empirical evidence from 13 countries," Other publications TiSEM 7d95e7bb-efff-41a6-8ea2-b, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:130. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.