Lemon Banking
Bad accounting standards and untamed moral hazards fueled the current sub-prime mortgage crisis, which is the fourth major financial crisis in the past 25 years. The world can expect more of the same unless governments take joint action to re-write the rules.
Munich – After the 1982 debt crisis, the Savings & Loan crisis in the United States in the late 1980’s, and the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the sub-prime mortgage crisis is the fourth major banking crisis since World War II, and by far the biggest. According to the IMF, the total loss in terms of balance sheet write-offs will be nearly $1 trillion worldwide, of which the lion’s share probably will be borne by US financial institutions. Given that the combined equity capital stock of all US financial institutions is roughly $1.2 trillion dollars, this is a breathtaking sum.
Munich – After the 1982 debt crisis, the Savings & Loan crisis in the United States in the late 1980’s, and the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the sub-prime mortgage crisis is the fourth major banking crisis since World War II, and by far the biggest. According to the IMF, the total loss in terms of balance sheet write-offs will be nearly $1 trillion worldwide, of which the lion’s share probably will be borne by US financial institutions. Given that the combined equity capital stock of all US financial institutions is roughly $1.2 trillion dollars, this is a breathtaking sum.