Debt and financial crises: Will history repeat itself?

a column by M. Ayhan Kose, Peter Nagle, Franziska Ohnsorge and Naotaka Sugawara (World Bank) for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

The global economy has experienced four waves of rapid debt accumulation in emerging and developing economies over the past 50 years.

This column examines these waves of debt and puts the fourth (current) wave in historical context. The current wave of debt, which started in 2010, stands out for its exceptional size, speed, and breadth. While the previous three waves all ended with widespread financial crises, policymakers have a range of options to reduce the likelihood of the current debt wave ending in crisis.

Labels:
debt, financial_crises,

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