Category Archives: Credit markets

Leveraged Bubbles

The risk that asset price bubbles pose for financial stability is still not clear. Drawing on 140 years of data, this column argues that leverage is the critical determinant of crisis damage. When fuelled by credit booms, asset price bubbles are associated with high financial crisis risk; upon collapse, they coincide with weaker growth and slower recoveries. Highly leveraged housing bubbles are the worst case of all.

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“@ Hillary Clinton: How does your student loan debt make you feel? Tell us in 3 emojis or less.”

The above tweet is real and is from Hillary Clinton’s official twitter account. It is very difficult to express how appalling this sentiment is. It represents much of what’s wrong with American politics in our current moment.

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Greek Debt Sustainability: The Devil is in the Tails

The debate over Greek debt sustainability is muddied by the fact that different analysts use different definitions. But once you use realistic assumptions, as in “tails risks” are actually pretty likely, Greek debt is obviously not “sustainable”.

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