The real engine of the business cycle

A valuable lesson from the Great Recession is that credit-supply expansions play a key role in subsequent recessions. When lenders make credit more available or more affordable, households respond by taking on debt, which drives up aggregate demand that is, until the music stops. AMIR SUFI and ATIF MIAN* analyse

CHICAGO: Every major financial crisis leaves a unique footprint. Just as banking crises throughout the 19th and 20th centuries revealed the importance of financial-sector liquidity and lenders of last resort, the Great Depression underscored the necessity of counter-cyclical fiscal and monetary policies.

And, more recently, the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent Great Recession revealed the key drivers of credit-driven business cycles.

Editor's Comment
Use social media to build, not destro

It is a warning flare to every Motswana who logs onto social media. As a country, we have reached a point where the line between robust debate and outright destruction has become dangerously blurred. At face value, Mabeo’s response, which seeks an apology and threat of a defamation suit, might seem severe to some. But we cannot ignore the context. The comment in question did not offer a policy critique or question a political decision.It...

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