The Evolving Nature of Asset Price Bubbles, Financial Instability and Monetary Policy

This paper links the bursting of the housing asset price bubble around 2007 in the U.S. to the instability that arose in financial markets with the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, and both of these to the Great Recession and the unconventional monetary policy that followed. Similar narratives about the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the Crash of 1987 and the Internet Bubble of 2000 are briefly presented to show their evolving financial nature, describe the financial instabilities produced by them and their costs and, finally examine the responses initiated, primarily, by monetary policy. This analytical synopsis of the four best-known U.S. asset bubble crashes guides us to an articulation of a few basic lessons learned.