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Global Saving Glut and Housing Bubble: A Critical Analysis

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  • Giancarlo Bertocco

Abstract

This paper examines the explanation of the "subprime" crisis provided by Bernanke according to which the origin of the housing bubble stemmed from the global saving glut that occurred in the decade 1996-2006. The paper has two objectives. First, it highlights the limits of Bernanke's thesis. Second, it shows that a meaningful explanation of the crisis has to be grounded on the "monetary theory of production" proposed by Keynes to explain how a monetary economy works.

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  • Giancarlo Bertocco, 2014. "Global Saving Glut and Housing Bubble: A Critical Analysis," Economia politica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 195-218.
    • Handle: RePEc:mul:jb33yl:doi:10.1428/77437:y:2014:i:2:p:195-218
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    Cited by:

    1. Sergio Cesaratto, 2016. "La financiación inicial y final en el circuito monetario y la teoría de la demanda efectiva," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 18(35), pages 47-78, July-Dece.
    2. Bofinger, Peter & Ries, Mathias, 2017. "Excess saving and low interest rates: Theory and empirical evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 12111, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Sergio Cesaratto, 2017. "Initial and Final Finance in the Monetary Circuit and the Theory of Effective Demand," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 228-258, May.
    4. Spahn, Peter, 2019. "Keynesian capital theory: Declining interest rates and persisting profits," Hohenheim Discussion Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences 10-2019, University of Hohenheim, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
    5. Marco Passarella, 2013. "Financial Integration in the European Union: an Analysis of ECB’s role," Working papers wpaper04, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    6. George Selgin, 2014. "Operation Twist-the-Truth: How the Federal Reserve Misrepresents Its History and Performance," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 34(2), pages 229-263, Spring/Su.

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