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Understanding the Credit Crunch as a Minsky Moment

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  • Charles Whalen

Abstract

The subprime mortgage crisis caught Wall Street off guard this summer. That is the definition of a crisis, and a credit crunch soon ensued. But according to the financial thinking of the late economist Hyman Minsky, such problems are endemic to what he called "money manager capitalism." Understanding what Minsky was saying will help us understand the current economy and how best to manage it. The author works us through Minsky's thinking and how it applies today.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles Whalen, 2008. "Understanding the Credit Crunch as a Minsky Moment," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 91-109.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:challe:v:51:y:2008:i:1:p:91-109
    DOI: 10.2753/0577-5132510106
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    10. Charles J. Whalen, 2001. "Integrating Schumpeter and Keynes: Hyman Minsky’s Theory of Capitalist Development," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(4), pages 805-823, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shazia Ghani, 2011. "A re-visit to Minsky after 2007 financial meltdown," Post-Print halshs-01027435, HAL.
    2. Mirakhor, Abbas & Krichene, Noureddine, 2009. "The Recent Crisis: Lessons for Islamic Finance," MPRA Paper 56022, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Charles J. Whalen, 2012. "Money manager capitalism," Chapters, in: Jan Toporowski & Jo Michell (ed.), Handbook of Critical Issues in Finance, chapter 34, pages i-ii, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. D Aparicio & G Rivera & M Meireles, 2023. "Latin America post-pandemic: debt, financial instability, and uneven economic recovery," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 28(1), pages 5-19, March.
    5. Yannis Dafermos, 2015. "Debt cycles, instability and fiscal rules: a Godley-Minsky model," Working Papers 20151509, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    6. Leila E Davis & Joao Paulo A de Souza & Gonzalo Hernandez, 2019. "An empirical analysis of Minsky regimes in the US economy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 43(3), pages 541-583.
    7. Hein, Eckhard, 2011. "Distribution, ‘Financialisation’ and the Financial and Economic Crisis – Implications for Post-crisis Economic Policies," MPRA Paper 31180, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. repec:vrs:joheec:v:1:y:2014:i:1:p:79-99:n:4 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Rodolfo Signorino, 2011. "Economics in the Mirror of the Financial Crisis," Chapters, in: Steven Kates (ed.), The Global Financial Crisis, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Yannis Dafermos, 2018. "Debt cycles, instability and fiscal rules: a Godley–Minsky synthesis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(5), pages 1277-1313.
    11. Bucher, Monika & Dietrich, Diemo & Hauck, Achim, 2013. "Implications of Bank Regulation for Credit Intermediation and Bank Stability: A Dynamic Perspective," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79792, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. Charles Whalen, 2011. "Minsky Goes to Buffalo—and Takes on the Economics Establishment," Forum for Social Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 273-280, January.
    13. Zhang, Bing & Li, Xindan & Yu, Honghai, 2013. "Has recent financial crisis changed permanently the correlations between BRICS and developed stock markets?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 725-738.
    14. Esraa Esam Alharasis & Maria Prokofieva & Rateb Mohammad Alqatamin & Colin Clark, 2020. "Fair Value Accounting and Implications for the Auditing Profession: Historical Overview," Accounting and Finance Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 9(3), pages 1-31, August.
    15. Hager, Sandy Brian, 2013. "Public Debt, Ownership and Power: The Political Economy of Distribution and Redistribution," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 157991, September.
    16. Jiří Štekláč, 2015. "Politicko-ekonomické varianty vyhlazování hospodářského cyklu v soudobých úvěrových ekonomikách [Political-Economic Options for Smoothing of Business Cycles within the Current Credit-Economy]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(1), pages 3-31.
    17. Natasa Golo & David S. Bree & Guy Kelman & Leanne Usher & Marco Lamieri & Sorin Solomon, 2015. "Too dynamic to fail. Empirical support for an autocatalytic model of Minsky's financial instability hypothesis," Papers 1506.07582, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2015.
    18. Hein, Eckhard, & Mundt, Matthias., 2012. "Financialisation and the requirements and potentials for wage-led recovery : a review focussing on the G20," ILO Working Papers 994709323402676, International Labour Organization.
    19. Charles Whalen, 2011. "Minsky Goes to Buffalo—and Takes on the Economics Establishment," Forum for Social Economics, Springer;The Association for Social Economics, vol. 40(2), pages 273-280, July.
    20. Alessandro Vercelli, 2011. "A Perspective on Minsky Moments: Revisiting the Core of the Financial Instability Hypothesis," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 49-67.

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