Banking Crises Exlained
10
Click here to load reader
-
Upload
theglobaleconomy -
Category
Economy & Finance
-
view
100 -
download
0
description
What are leading indicators of banking crises, their negative effects on the real economy, and way governments resolve them. All the basics presented clearly on a few slides on banking crises.
Transcript of Banking Crises Exlained
What is a banking crisis
Banking crises are periods when many banks in the economy are on the brink of collapse. Depositors rush to get their money out and, often, the government intervenes to save the banks. It might nationalize, close, or merge banks to contain the problem.
It takes about 5 years for the banking system to get back to normal.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
Notice on the chart the rapid increase of bank credit to the private sector before the 2008 banking crisis in Ireland. Notice also the collapse of the Irish GDP and the growth of government debt when the crisis began. These dynamics are typical during banking crises.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
Leading indicators of banking crises
Rapid credit growth: Banking crises are preceded by a rapid expansion of bank credit to firms and households for several years. The credit expansion is usually fueled by optimism about the economy that motivates households to buy assets (real estate) and firms to invest in plant and equipment.
Real estate bubbles: Typically, much of the new credit goes into real estate and pushes prices up. The rising prices contribute even more to the optimism.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
Leading indicators continued …
Capital inflows: Often, the expansion of credit is funded by the inflow of international capital. In essence, foreign banks lend to domestic banks which then lend to households and firms.
Eventually, asset (real estate) prices reach very high levels and stop rising. Demand for real estate drops, prices start falling, borrowers cannot pay back the bank debts, and banks start losing money. The government intervenes to support them.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
The negative effects of banking crises
Recession: When banks go into trouble they reduce drastically their lending to households and firms. Respectively, households and firms reduce their consumption of goods and services and the economy goes into recession.
Steep rise in government debt: The government assistance to banks requires a lot of money during a recession when government revenues are down. Therefore, the government borrows and keeps borrowing for several years.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
Resolving banking crises
It takes 4-6 years for the effect of a banking crisis to fade away. In comparison, the average recession without a banking crisis is about 1-2 years long.
Gradually, banks are restored to health and start lending again. Households and firms start spending and the economy picks up.
However, the large government debt that accumulates during the crisis is a long-term legacy. It has to be paid off for significantly longer than 4-6 years.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
The frequency of banking crises
Two well known economists, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff identify 156 banking crises in 110 countries from 1963 to 2007.
The frequency of banking crises has varied over time but it seems to have trended upwards. For instance, only 3 banking crisis in their dataset occurred between 1960 and 1975, whereas about 35% of all crises occurred in the 1980s and 45% in the first half of the 1990s.
This trend declined in the latter years as only 16% of the crises happened after 1995, including the recent crises.
www.theglobaleconomy.com
More information
Financial structure explained - banks vs. stock markets
Finance and the real economy
Compare economic indicators across over 200 countries
www.theglobaleconomy.com
www.TheGlobalEconomy.com
Research and learning tools for the global economy
